Systems and methods for interactive program guides with personal video recording features

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems that provide enhanced personal video recorder (“PVR”) and interactive television program guide (“IPG”) functionality are provided. An interactive television application may be used to display a list of PVR recordings, schedule recordings to a PVR, configure recordings, view a list of scheduled recordings, configure recording settings, or select delete priority settings for recordings. The application may integrate pay-per-view and PVR functionality. The application may send user notifications for changes that are to be made to the recording content of a PVR. Live programming may be buffered by the application using straight buffers that are created for each new program. Parallel buffers for concurrent programs may be implemented using multiple tuners. Straight buffers may be used in managing or controlling the flow of programming. Television content may be automatically paused when a user is using the application. Multiple IPGs for different users of a PVR may be implemented.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/222,431, filed Mar. 21, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/335,787, filed Dec. 22, 2011, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/546,301, filed Aug.24, 2009 (now abandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/356,928, filed Feb. 16, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,457,475), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/105,128, filed Feb. 21, 2002 (now abandoned), which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/270,469, filed Feb. 21,2001, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/271,809, filed Feb. 27, 2001,U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/284,703, filed on Apr. 18, 2001,U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/290,709, filed on May 14, 2001, U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/296,593, filed on Jun. 7, 2001, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/301,589, filed on Jun. 28, 2001. All ofthese prior applications, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to interactive television program guide(“IPG”) systems and personal video recording (“PVR”) systems, and moreparticularly to enhanced PVR-IPG features.

Interactive television systems such as interactive television programguide systems are now widely available to the general public.Interactive television program guide systems may be used to provideinteractive television services such as services for allowing a user totune to a program, to set parental locks, to record a program, to setreminders, etc. Interactive program guide systems are illustrativelydescribed, for example, in Knee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,892, andKnudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/357,941, filed Jul.16, 1999, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

In recent years, PVRs such as those provided by companies such as Tivoand ReplayTV have become available. Such systems and devices may be usedto provide interactive television services such as services forrecording television programs onto a digital medium, such as a harddisk. In one known system, a PVR may use an MPEG encoder to digitizebroadcast television and then store the digitized broadcast televisionfor later retrieval on a hard disk drive. In such systems, a digitizedbroadcast may be converted to an analog NTSC signal for display on atelevision.

In conventional PVRs, a program buffer is typically used to allow usersto pause, rewind, or playback a television broadcast that a user iswatching. A PVR buffer is typically a circular buffer that stores themost recent “n” minutes of programming that was watched by a user. Onedrawback of this buffering technique is that the buffer only allows theuser to pause or rewind up to the last “n” minutes and only on thecurrently tuned channel since it was most recently tuned.

Conventional PVR systems may also provide other features such asfeatures for allowing users to select to record television content. Insuch systems, a live program is typically recorded from the point atwhich a user requests the program to be recorded. One drawback of suchsystems is that portions of the live program that were previouslybuffered are typically ignored.

In such systems, interactive television services are typically providedto users through the presentation of graphics. One drawback of suchsystems is that the presentation of the graphics may undesirably cause auser to miss live television content that the user is watching.

Another drawback of known PVR systems is that such systems do nottypically support pay-per-view television programming. Pay-per-view(“PPV”) television programs are now widely available through cabletelevision service providers, but are not typically supported by PVRsfor scheduling recordings or providing other types of PVR-relatedfunctionality.

Improvements to these IPG and/or PVR systems are desirable to alleviatethese and other drawbacks and to simplify the use of such systems whileproviding additional functionality to television viewers. Accordingly,new systems and methods for interactive program guides with personalvideo recording functions are provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, aninteractive television application may be implemented on a televisionsystem to provide enhanced PVR-related functionality.

An interactive television application may be implemented to integratePVR and set-top box program guide features, functionality, andinformation. For example, an interactive television application may beimplemented to provide PVR features, functionality, and information inan interactive television program guide such as an interactivetelevision program guide running on a cable set-top box. Otherconfigurations for integrating such features may also be used.

An interactive television application may display a main menu displayscreen that may include options such as a program listings option, avideo-on-demand option, a pay-per-view (“PPV”) option, or a currentweather option to provide interactive services. The main menu displayscreen may include PVR-related options such as a recordings option, ascheduled recordings option, and a delete priority option.

A recordings display screen may be displayed when the user selects therecordings option. The recordings display screen may include a list ofrecordings that are available from a PVR. The programs that are includedin the list of recordings may be programs that were manually orautomatically recorded by the PVR. The listings in the display screenmay be selectable to allow a user to access information and/or optionsthat are related to a selected listing. Other techniques for accessingthe list of recordings may also be provided.

A scheduled recordings display screen may be displayed when a userselects a scheduled recordings option from a main menu display screen.Other techniques for accessing a scheduled recordings display screen mayalso be used. The scheduled recordings display screen may include a listof programs that are scheduled to be recorded (e.g., scheduled to berecorded by a PVR). Programs on the list may have been scheduled to berecorded automatically or manually. Programs that are automaticallyscheduled to be recorded or that are automatically recorded may beprograms that an interactive television application selects forrecording based on some criteria such as user preferences. Programs thatare manually recorded or manually scheduled to be recorded may beprograms that a user specifically selected to be recorded. Seriesrecordings that are selected for recording by a user may also beconsidered to be manual recordings. Listings in a scheduled recordingsdisplay screen may be selectable to allow a user to access informationand/or options that are related to a selected program listing.Information about series recordings may be accessed through a scheduledrecordings display screen.

An interactive television application may allow a user to schedule andcancel one-time and/or series recordings from a program listings screen,a browse overlay, a flip overlay, a video of a program that is beingwatched, an advertisement, or any other suitable location. A seriesrecording may be used to schedule and record a series of episodes in aparticular program series. The user may be provided with an opportunityto configure series recordings based on episode type (e.g. first-run,repeat, etc.) and/or channels.

The interactive television application may provide a user with anopportunity to configure a recording buffer around a program that isscheduled to be recorded. The record quality of a recording may also beselected by a user. An interactive television application may allow auser to schedule a recording from practically any point in a programguide. For example, a recording may be scheduled from a program listingbar, a program information display screen, an advertisement displayscreen, or any other suitable point in a program guide.

The interactive television application may provide a user with theability to record PPV programs and to schedule PPV programs to berecorded. An interactive television application may automatically ordera PPV program that a user schedules to be recorded. A user may beprompted to purchase a PPV program when the user schedules a PPV programto be recorded. Recording configuration settings for a PPV program, suchas recording quality and recording buffer time, may be selected by auser.

The interactive television application may provide VCR type functionsfor watching a recorded program including pause, fast-forward, rewind,stop, play, record, and other suitable functions. When pausing livecontent, the interactive television application may display paused videoof the television content and display a timer showing how far back thepaused video is behind live content. Program flow control options suchas a play option, a rewind option, a fast-forward option, and a recordoption may also be displayed.

If desired, television programming may be recorded without includinggraphics such as interactive television application display screens andoverlays as part of the recordings. If desired, television programmingmay be recorded without including in the recording changes in volumesettings that a user selects during the recording.

An interactive television application may display different PVR relatedoverlays at appropriate points in interactions with a user. For example,an overlay may be displayed when a recording is canceled, when a programstarts to be recorded, when a recording is completed, or when otherevents occur. A user may be permitted to cancel a recording that isunder way. For example, the user may cancel the recording by pressing aremote control record button or by pressing a remote control button tochange the current channel. If desired, a user may not be permitted tochange the current channel unless the user affirmatively confirms thecancellation of the recording.

The interactive television application may provide a user with areminder that a scheduled recording is about to start. A reminder may bedisplayed at a preset time before the start of a scheduled recording.The reminder may include the title of the program that is scheduled tobe recorded. A user may be provided with an opportunity to confirm thatthe program should be recorded, for example, by selecting a particularitem in the reminder overlay.

The interactive television application may provide a user with theability to set delete priority settings for recordings. The user may setdelete priority settings for a specific program. The user may be allowedto set general delete priority settings. The interactive televisionapplication may provide user-selectable options for editing the order inwhich individual recordings will be deleted. A delete priority order maybe set for recordings in general based on program type or broadcasttype. A delete priority order may be set between series recordings.Options may also be available for deleting recordings after a specifiedperiod of time and after the program has been viewed.

An interactive television application may be implemented to providemultiple program guides with respect to PVR information and features.Each program guide may correspond to a different user in a household.Information related to a specific user may be displayed and/or updatedwhen the program guide corresponding to that user is accessed. Theprogram guides may be configured to interact differently with differentusers. The list of recordings and/or list of scheduled recordings forone user may not be available to other users in their program guides. Toidentify a current user, the interactive television application mayrequire users to log into their program guides. If desired, users may berequired to login when they seek to access PVR related features and/orinformation. Different users may use their program guides to selectdifferent programs to be recorded. A PVR may record programs based onthe user selections. Recordings may be performed independent of whichuser is currently logged into the system. Users may be permitted todelete recordings from their list of recordings. The interactivetelevision application may delete information related to a recordingthat a user selects to delete. Deleting information related to arecording may remove the recording from that user's list of recordings.The interactive television application may delete a program from a PVRbased on user selections. If a particular recording is associated withmore than one user, the interactive television application may deletethe recording when all of the users associated with that recording haveselected that program to be deleted.

PVR users may be notified of changes that are to be made to therecording content in a storage device. A notification may be sent toinform a user that a particular program is about to be recorded ordeleted. In a multiple program guide environment, notifications may besent to users to which the upcoming change pertains. The notificationmay provide the user with an opportunity to confirm or cancel the changethat is to be made. The notification may be sent via a program guideoverlay, using e-mail, or using other suitable techniques. Anotification may notify a user that a particular program that wasearlier selected by the user to be recorded is about to be recorded. Anotification may notify a user that a particular program, which wasautomatically selected to be recorded (e.g., based on user preferences),is about to be recorded. A notification may notify a user that aparticular program is about to be deleted based on user-selected deletepriority settings. A notification may notify a user that a particularprogram is about to be recorded based on automatic delete settings.

An interactive television application may maintain a global list ofprograms that are presently stored on a PVR. The list may contain allprograms that have been recorded. The list may contain programs thatwere deleted (automatically or manually), but are still available fromthe storage medium of the PVR. For example, in one instance, thedeletion of a recording may only delete particular information aboutthat recording without actually deleting the video of the recording fromthe PVR.

In order to not re-record a program, an interactive televisionapplication may check a global list of programs to determine whether aprogram that has been selected to be recorded is already available fromthe PVR. The interactive television application may not record a programif that program is currently on the global list. The currently storedprogram on the PVR may be used for the selected recording. If desired, auser may be provided with an opportunity to edit the global list. A usermay be permitted to permanently delete a program from the global list.

Stored video advertisements may be presented to users using a storagedevice such as a PVR. Video advertisements may be presented using fullscreen video or scaled video. A video advertisement may be presentedwhen a user is interacting with a program guide. Scaled video for anadvertisement may be presented in a program guide display screen. Fullscreen video of the advertisement may be presented when a user selectsthe scaled video in a program guide display screen. A stored videoadvertisement may be displayed when a user enters a program guide (e.g.,a user selects a guide button of a remote control while watching livetelevision). A stored video advertisement may be linked to a live videoadvertisement that is being presented to a user. The stored videoadvertisement may be presented after the presentation of the live video.The stored video advertisement may be presented based on userpreferences or other criteria. Current television content may be pausedfor a user when the stored video advertisement is displayed. The storedvideo advertisement may be used replace a live television advertisement.

A storage device such as a PVR may be used to buffer television contentto provide a user with an opportunity to control the flow of currenttelevision content and to take other actions. A straight buffer may becreated when a user tunes a new channel or program. The straight buffermay be used to buffer the currently tuned program. If desired, a buffersize may be allocated to the buffer that is suitable for holding theremainder of the current program. Each time a user changes to viewing anew program, the interactive television application may create a newbuffer. Space for a buffer may be allocated by allocating free spacethat is available on a storage device, by deleting an existing buffer(e.g., the oldest existing buffer), or by deleting a portion of anexisting buffer (e.g., the oldest portion of the oldest buffer). Ifdesired, the size of a buffer may be incrementally increased as needed.

In the situation where a user tunes away and returns to a particularprogram, a buffer that was created for that program may combine videothat was buffered before the user tuned away and video buffered when theuser returned to watching that program. The separate portion of theprogram before and after the user tuned away may be combined byconcatenating the two portions, by inserting blank video between the twoportions, by inserting text or other content between the two portions,or by using combinations thereof. If desired, content that is insertedbetween the two portions may have a duration that corresponds to thelength of the break between the portions. In a multi-tuner environment,the buffer for a program may contain the portions of the video that theuser may have missed by tuning away. Multiple tuners may be implementedto permit the PVR to buffer different programs in parallel. Multipletuners may also be used to record one program while watching anotherprogram or to record two or more programs at the same time.

A user may be allowed to control program flow using a buffer. A user maybe permitted to rewind a program that is playing from a program buffer.Rewinding a current program to the top of that program may allow theuser to skip to a previous program by selecting to rewind again. Usingfast-forward to reach the end of a program may cause the program to stopplaying or may cause the next program from the buffer to be played.

The buffer for a current program may be used as part of a recording whenthe user selects to record that program. A program that is beingbuffered may be recorded by recording currently airing video of theprogram and saving previous portions of the program that are buffered.An interactive television application may retain buffers for programsthat have ended. A user may be permitted to view a list of programs thatare currently stored in program buffers. An interactive televisionapplication may save a buffer for a program as a recording when a userselects that program to be recorded. The selection may be made evenafter the program has ended.

Storage space in a storage device may be assigned automatically ormanually to buffer programming. An interactive television applicationmay automatically assign all or a portion of the storage space in astorage device to buffer programming. If desired, a user may be providedwith an opportunity to set the total size to be used for buffering, setthe total number of buffers that can be active at one time, set the sizeof each buffer, and set how often buffers should be deleted.

An interactive television application may automatically pause televisioncontent that a user is watching when the user interacts with theinteractive television application. A current television program orcommercial that a user is watching may be paused when a program guidedisplay screen or a stored video advertisement is displayed. Thetelevision content may remain paused while the user interacts with theinteractive television application or watches the stored videoadvertisement. The display of the television content may resume when theuser exits the interactive television application. The display of thetelevision content may resume from the point at which it was paused. Ifdesired, the interactive television application may provide the userwith an opportunity to select whether the television content should beresumed from the point at which it was automatically paused or resumedfrom its current point.

Other PVR related features may also be provided. An interactivetelevision application may display a scheduled recording icon thatchanges based on the status of a scheduled recording. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to createkeyword-based recordings. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to set the recording priority for aprogram. The recording priority settings may, for example, include acan't miss priority, an if possible priority, a desired priority, an ifspace available priority, or any other suitable recording priority.Providing a user with three or more different recording priority levelsto chose from allows a user greater flexibility in configuring his orher recording preferences. An interactive television application maydisplay recorded programs within a browse overlay, a program listingsdisplay screen, or within other listing screens. Recorded programs maybe listed amongst regularly scheduled programs.

The interactive television application may indicate how much memory isavailable on the PVR, and specifically how much memory is available ateach recording priority level and when memory will run out based on thecurrent recording settings.

Playback controls may be used to fast-forward and rewind a program atdifferent speeds. The range of different speeds may include a range fromdifferent slow motion speeds to different fast-forward speeds. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto schedule VOD programs for recordings. The interactive televisionapplication may propose a selection of times at which the VOD programmay be recorded. The interactive television application may propose atime for recording a VOD program based on currently scheduled recordingsand reminders to avoid conflicts in recordings. If a VOD or PPV programis marked as copy-protected, the interactive television application mayrestrict whether a user can schedule a recording for the copyrightedprogram.

VOD and PPV programs may be priced to have different prices depending onthe usage. For example, one price may be for watching a program, anotherprice may be for recording a program, and a third price may be for eachplayback of a recording. The interactive television application may alsosupport pay-per-recording and pay-per-playback of ordinary content. Theinteractive television application may also support a system in whichthe user pays for recording space by the amount of storage space used ona remote server (e.g., pay for the amount of storage in a remote serverthat stores personal video of a user).

An interactive television application may be implemented to pushtelevision advertisements and other content to be locally stored anddisplayed.

An interactive television application may allow a user to set a manualrecording by specifying the time, date, channel, and duration forrecording. When the interactive television application identifies datamatching the manual recording, the manual recording may be converted toa program-based recording (a one-time recording).

The interactive television application may provide the use with theability to edit recorded programs. Editing features may include,removing sections from a recording, removing commercials from arecording, combining recorded programs, creating playlists ofrecordings, marking locations in recorded programs for quick reference,or other suitable editing features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The principles and advantages of the present invention can be moreclearly understood from the following detailed description considered inconjunction with the following drawings, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an illustrative interactive television programguide system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A shows a diagram of illustrative user television equipment inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2B shows a diagram of illustrative user equipment that includes aset-top box with an integrated personal video recorder in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2C shows a diagram of illustrative user equipment with a remoteserver for storing recorded content in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a remote control in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative process including steps that may be used inaccessing PVR-related program guide functions from a main menu displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative main menu display screen in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative process that may be used in selecting andconfiguring a recording of a program in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative search program listings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative program information display screen for anon-PPV and non-VOD program that a user selected to be recorded inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative program recording setup display screen fora non-PPV and non-VOD program in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative series recording setup display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative series recording listings display screenin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative keyword-based recording display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative sports listings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows an illustrative by channel listings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 shows an illustrative by time listings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative browse or flip overlay that is displayedover current video in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative process that may be used for setting PVRdefault setup options in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative PVR setup display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative buffer time before/after by channel/typedisplay screen in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 20 shows an illustrative quality of recording by channel/typedisplay screen in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 21 shows an illustrative buffer time conflicts display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 shows an illustrative priority level information display screenin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 shows an illustrative process that may be used in selecting andconfiguring a recording of a PPV program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 shows an illustrative information display screen for a PPVprogram in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 shows an illustrative PPV recording setup display screen forconfiguring a recording of a PPV program to be scheduled in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 shows an illustrative process that may be used in selecting andconfiguring a recording of a VOD program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 shows an illustrative information display screen for a VODprogram in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 shows an illustrative VOD recording setup display screen forconfiguring a recording of a VOD program to be scheduled in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 shows an illustrative process that may be used when recording aprogram in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 shows an illustrative starting to record overlay that isdisplayed over a video of a current program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 shows an illustrative cancel recording overlay that is displayedover a video of a current program in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 32 shows an illustrative finished recording overlay that isdisplayed over a video of a current program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33 shows an illustrative live controls overlay that is displayedover a video of a current program on a current channel in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 shows an illustrative recording reminder overlay that isdisplayed over a video of a current program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 35 shows an illustrative process that may be used in displaying arecording information display screen in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 36 shows an illustrative PVR recording listings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 37 shows an illustrative recorded program information displayscreen for a particular recording of a program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 38 shows an illustrative program delete priority setup displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 39 shows an illustrative PVR playback video overlay that isdisplayed over a video of a recorded program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 40 shows an illustrative message overlay displayed over a video ofa program in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 41 shows an illustrative process that may be used in accessingprogram guide options during playback of a recorded program inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 42 shows an illustrative process that may be used in displaying ascheduled recording information display screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 43 shows an illustrative scheduled recording listings displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 44 shows an illustrative PPV program information display screen fora current PPV program that is being recorded in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 45 shows an illustrative PPV program information display screen fora future PPV program that has been scheduled to be recorded inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 46 shows an illustrative recording setup display screen forchanging the configuration of a scheduled recording of a PPV inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 47 shows an illustrative program information display screen for acurrent non-PPV and non-VOD program that is being recorded in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 48 shows an illustrative recording canceled overlay that isdisplayed on a display screen in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 49 shows an illustrative flow control overlay that has a live TVoption that is displayed over a video of a program playing from a PVR inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 50 shows an illustrative live controls overlay with pause time leftindicator displayed over a paused video of a program in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 51 shows an illustrative delete priority setup display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 52 shows an illustrative series recording delete priority displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 53 shows an illustrative one-time recording delete priority displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 54 shows an illustrative delete priority by program type displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 55A shows an illustrative delete priority by broadcast type displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 55B shows an illustrative delete priority by channel display screenin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 56 shows an illustrative process that may be used for pushing videoadvertisements and other content to local television equipment of a userin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 57 shows an illustrative online scheduled recordings program guidewindow in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 58 shows an illustrative process that may be used to provide theuser with the ability to edit saved programs in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 59 shows an illustrative edit saved recordings display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 60 shows an illustrative combine with other recordings displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 61 shows an illustrative remove parts of a recording overlaydisplayed over video that is playing from a PVR in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 62 shows an illustrative playlist display screen in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 63 shows an illustrative edit playlist display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 64 shows an illustrative create new playlist overlay displayed overan illustrative playlist display screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 65 shows an illustrative mark and recall overlay displayed overvideo of a selected recording in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 66 shows an illustrative process for providing multiple programguides in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 67 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed to permit login into a program guide in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 68 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed to permit viewing of scheduled recordings in different programguides in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 69 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed to permit viewing of a user's scheduled recordings using hisor her program guide in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 70 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed to permit viewing of a user's list of recordings using his orher program guide in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 71 shows an illustrative process for recording programs based on auser selection in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 72 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed when a user selects a program to be recorded in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 73 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed when a user selects a program to be recorded from aninformation display screen in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 74 shows an illustrative process for deleting recordings orrecording related information in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 75-76 show illustrative sequences of display screens that may bedisplayed when two different users are accessing their program guides,which are local to the same user equipment, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 77 shows an illustrative process for notifying users of changes inrecorded content in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 78 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bedisplayed in notifying a user that a program is about to be added to therecorded content in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 79-82 show illustrative notification overlays that are displayedover video or graphics in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 83-86 show illustrative notification e-mails in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 87 shows an illustrative process for generating and using a globallist of recordings in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 88 shows an illustrative process for displaying stored videoadvertisements that may be related to live video advertisements inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 89 shows an illustrative video presentation sequence that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 88 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 90 shows an illustrative process for displaying stored videoadvertisements when a user is in a program guide in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 91 shows illustrative sequences of events for displaying storedvideo advertisements that may be provided based on the illustrativeprocess shown in FIG. 90 in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 92 shows an illustrative sequence of events that may be providedbased on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 90 in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 93 shows an illustrative process for buffering television contentin accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 94 shows an illustrative sequence of illustrative display screensand illustrative buffers that may be provided based on the illustrativeprocess shown in FIG. 93 in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 95 shows an illustrative process for allocating space for newbuffers in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 96 shows an illustrative process for combining separate buffers inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 97 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens and buffersthat may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 96in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 98 shows an illustrative process for inserting content betweenseparate buffered portions of a program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 99 shows illustrative video presentation sequences that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 98 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 100 shows an illustrative process for buffering two programs inparallel in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 101 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens and buffersthat may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 100in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 102 shows an illustrative process for rewinding to move betweenbuffered content in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 103 shows illustrative video presentation sequences that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 102 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 104 shows an illustrative process for fast-forwarding to movebetween buffered content in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 105 shows illustrative video presentation sequences that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 104 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 106 shows an illustrative process for using a skip-forward featurein accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 107 shows an illustrative video presentation sequence that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 106 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 108 shows an illustrative process for recording a program inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 109 shows illustrative sequences of events that may be providedbased on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 108 in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 110 shows an illustrative process for recording a program after ithas ended in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 111 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may beprovided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 110 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 112 shows an illustrative process for assigning a portion of astorage space for buffering a program in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 113 shows an illustrative buffer configuration display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 114 shows an illustrative process for automatically pausingtelevision content in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 115-121 show different illustrative sequences of video and/orgraphic presentations that may be provided based on the illustrativeprocess shown in FIG. 114 in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 122 shows an illustrative sequence for presenting recorded videowhen a current program is paused in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 123 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens for sending arecording, a reminder, or a recording request in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 124-126 show illustrative techniques by which a user may receive arecording, a reminder, or a recording request in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An illustrative interactive television system in accordance with thepresent invention is shown in FIG. 1. For clarity and brevity, theinteractive television system of FIG. 1 is sometimes primarily discussedin the context of an interactive television program guide system. Withreference now to FIG. 1, illustrative interactive television programguide system 100 may include main facility 102, distribution facility110, and user equipment 122. Illustrative interactive television programguide system 100 may include multiple main facilities 102. Only one mainfacility 102, however, is illustrated in FIG. 1 to avoidover-complicating the drawing.

Main facility 102 may include server 104 for storing and distributinginteractive television program guide information from program guidedatabase 106. Program guide database 106 may store program guideinformation such as television program listings information, servicelistings information, program-related information, pay-per-view orderinginformation, promotional information, or any other suitable programguide information. Main facility 102 may distribute the program guideinformation to distribution facility 110 via communications path 108.

Communications path 108 may be any suitable communications path, such asa satellite link, a cable link, a fiber-optic link, a microwave link, atelephone network link, an Internet link, or a combination of suchlinks. If it is desired to transmit video signals (e.g., televisionprograms) over communications path 108 in addition to data signals, arelatively high bandwidth link such as a satellite link may bepreferable to a relatively low bandwidth link such as a telephone line.Only one distribution facility 110 is shown in FIG. 1 to avoidover-complicating the drawing. Multiple distribution facilities may beinvolved in implementing interactive services.

The program guide information or content transmitted by main facility102 to distribution facility 110 may include television program listingsdata (such as program times, channels, titles, descriptions, programtype, genre, actors) or any other suitable data.

The promotional information transmitted by main facility 102 todistribution facility 110 may include various promotional banners,promotional ads, promotional slogans, promotional advertisements, or anyother suitable promotional material.

Distribution facility 110 may be a television distribution facility forbroadcast television, a cable system headend, a satellite distributionfacility, or any other suitable distribution facility for distributingsignals to viewers. Distribution facility 110 may distribute programguide information (or content) to user equipment 122 via communicationspaths 114. Distribution facility 110 may include server 112 fordistributing program guide information. Server 112 may also handlecommunications for distributing television programming, music, or anyother suitable type of media. Server 112 may include a local database116 for storing various program guide information. Server 112 mayinclude storage 117 for storing recorded programs remotely. Programsand/or related information may be recorded and/or stored remotely orlocally at user equipment 122. A combination of local and remote storageand/or recording may also be used. Client-server based interactivetelevision program guide systems with remote recording features areillustratively described, for example, in Ellis et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Additional techniquesfor storing programs and program information are illustrativelydescribed, for example, in Hassell et al., U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/157,256, Sep. 17, 1998, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. In addition, server 112 may be capable ofproviding other interactive services such as near video-on-demand andvideo-on-demand. Server 112 may include one or more computers.

If desired, some or all of the information distributed to distributionfacility 110 may be provided using information sources other than mainfacility 102. For example, distribution facility 110 may receiveinformation from wide area network 118 (e.g., the Internet) viacommunications path 120. Communications path 120 may be a T1 link, adigital subscriber line (DSL) link, a cable modem link, an analog modemlink, or any other suitable link.

If desired, data may be provided to user equipment 122 using facilitiesother than main facility 102 and distribution facility 110. For example,user equipment 122 may receive data directly from wide area network 118via communications path 62. Communications path 62 may be a T1 link, adigital subscriber line (DSL) link, a cable modem link, an analog modemlink, a radio frequency link such as radio frequencies in a pagingsystem, or any other suitable link. In another example, a separatefacility such as a satellite broadcasting system (not shown) maytransmit data to user equipment 122, which may receive data via asatellite receiving system (not shown).

Communications path 114 may be any suitable type of link that allowsdistribution facility 110 to distribute program guide information,television programming, and any other suitable information, data, ormedia to user equipment 122. There may be more than one communicationspath 114 that couples each user equipment 122 to distribution facility110. For example, if distribution facility 110 is a cable headend, userequipment 122 may receive information via a cable link and may transmitinformation to distribution facility 110 via a digital serial link, adial-up modem connection, or any other suitable link. Each ofcommunication paths 114 may be unidirectional or bi-directional.

User equipment 122 may be configured to send or receive e-mails viacommunication path 62, communications path 114, or communications path120. User equipment 122 may receive e-mails that were sent bydistribution facility 110 or by some other facility.

An interactive television application, in accordance with theembodiments described herein, may be implemented on user equipment 122to provide interactive services to a user. Interactive services mayenable a user to interact with television applications, for example, bysetting particular channels as favorites, by changing channels, byordering PPV movies, by selecting programs to be recorded, by playingrecorded programs, etc. An interactive television application may be aninteractive television program guide application, or an interactivepersonal video recorder application that may be used to provideinteractive services to users.

Video capable device 124 may be video equipment that is capable ofgenerating or storing video such as a video camera, a portable computer,or other suitable device. Video capable device 124 may be connected touser equipment 122 through communications connection 126 (e.g., afirewire connection, an RS-232 connection, etc.) or may be integratedinto user equipment 122. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to transfer and store video from videocapable device 124 to user equipment 122. Transferred video may bestored in a PVR that is part of user equipment 122. Video from videocapable device 124 may be stored on user equipment 122 and presented toa user at a later time.

User equipment 122 may be based on a television platform and/or acomputer platform. For example, user equipment 122 may include usertelevision equipment (e.g., a television set, a PVR, and a set-top box),may include user computer equipment (e.g., a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a handheld computing device such as a personal digitalassistant or any other small personal computing device, etc.), or mayinclude any other suitable user equipment for implementing aninteractive television program guide. User computer equipment mayinclude a computer based receiver having integrated set-top boxcircuitry or a personal computer television (PC/TV). If desired, usertelevision equipment may include computer equipment for receivinge-mails.

FIG. 2A shows illustrative user television equipment 200 that is basedon a set-top box arrangement. User television equipment 200 may includeset-top box 202, recording equipment 204, display device 206, and remotecontrol 212. FIG. 2A illustrates that set-top box 202 is connected torecording equipment 204 and that recording equipment 204 is connected todisplay device 206. These connections may be wired or wirelessconnections. FIG. 2A also shows that remote control 212 may be able tocommunicate with set-top box 202, recording equipment 204, and displaydevice 206 via a wireless link 214. Persons skilled in the art willappreciate that set-top box 202, recording equipment 204, remote control212, and display device 206 may be interconnected differently than thatshown in FIG. 2A and that components can be added or removed. Forexample, recording equipment 204 may be integrated with set-top box 202in a single device (see for example FIG. 2B).

Set-top box 202 may receive signals transmitted by distribution facility110 (FIG. 1) (e.g., audio, video, or interactive television applicationdata). Set-top box 202 may include a storage device (e.g., a hard drive)or memory for storing personal user preferences settings, for storinguser-selected reminders, or for storing other information. Forillustrative purposes, the present invention will be described in thecontext of user television equipment 200, which uses set-top box 202 asits receiver or tuner. If desired, user television equipment 200 mayinclude multiple tuners which may be used for simultaneously watchingone program and recording another. Illustrative interactive televisionprogram guides with simultaneous watch and record capabilities areillustratively described, for example in Lemmons et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/329,850, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Set top box 202 may be connected to recording equipment 204. Recordingequipment 204 may include PVR 208, VCR 210, or any other suitablerecording device. Recording equipment 204 may include one or both of PVR208 and VCR 210. If the user desires to record a program, set-top box202 may be manually or automatically tuned to a particular channel andcontrol signals may be sent to recording equipment 204 to record thatprogram.

Data link 209 may connect PVR 208 and VCR 210, and may be a cable linkor any other suitable data link. Data link 209 may be used to transferaudio/video signals for programs between PVR 208 and VCR 210.

Set-top box 202 may send audio/video signals and signals that arerepresentative of graphics to display device 206 for presentation to theuser. If desired, set-top box 202 may route signals to display device206 through recording equipment 204. If desired, set-top box 202,recording equipment 204, and display device 206 may be configured insuch a way that graphics generated by set-top box 202 and volume changesthat occur when recording equipment 204 is recording are not saved aspart of the recording. Display device 206 may be a television, acomputer monitor, a computer system with a monitor and speakers, a flatpanel display, or any other suitable display device.

Set-top box 202 may be arranged in a client/server relationship with PVR208. In one embodiment of the present invention, set-top box 202 mayfunction as a server and PVR 208 may function as a client. All requestsfor information received from remote control 212 or other input devicesmay be routed first through set-top box 202. If, for example, a userrequests PVR information or a PVR recording, the request may first beprocessed by set-top box 202 which may communicate with PVR 208 toobtain the information or recording. Set-top box 202 may sendaudio/video signals and signals that are representative of graphics todisplay device 206 based on communications with PVR 208. Otherarrangements for establishing communications and operations between PVR208 and set-top box 202 may also be used. Other arrangements forestablishing communications and operations with display device 206 mayalso be used.

Personalization information for one or more users may be stored onset-top box 202, on personal video recorder 208, on server 112 of FIG.1, on combinations thereof, or on any other suitable equipment.Personalization information may include user profiles, preferences,viewing history, recording history, etc. Personalization information maybe used to automatically record programs that match the personalizationinformation. Programs may be recorded when information related to anupcoming program matches personalization information for a user such asa user's preferences or may be recorded when information related to anupcoming program compares well with stored personalization information.Illustrative interactive television program guides havingpersonalization features are shown in Thomas et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/974,646, filed Oct. 9, 2001, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

A user may interact with any of the components in user televisionequipment 200 and with an interactive television application using oneor more input devices, such as remote control 212. Remote control 212may have various buttons that may be pressed by the user to interactwith portions of an interactive television application such as aninteractive television program guide. For illustrative purposes, manyaspects of the present invention are discussed primarily in the contextof an input device that is a remote control. Other suitable inputdevices such as a conventional keyboard, a wireless keyboard, a touchscreen display remote, a handheld computer, a mouse, a trackball, or atouch pad may also be used.

An interactive television application such as an interactive televisionprogram guide application may be implemented locally on user equipment200 or may be implemented using a client-server or distributedarchitecture where some of the program guide application is implementedlocally on user equipment 200. Client-server program guides areillustratively described, for example, in Ellis et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/374,043, filed Aug. 13, 1999, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. If desired, aninteractive television application for providing the features andfunctionality discussed herein may be partly implemented on PVR 208and/or set-top box 202.

FIG. 2B shows another embodiment of user television equipment 9900 inwhich a personal video recorder is integrated with a set-top box. Withreference now to FIG. 2B, user equipment 9900 may include PVR integratedset-top box 9902, display device 9904, and remote control 9906. PVRintegrated set-top box 9902 may be connected to display device 9904. Ifdesired, user television equipment 9900 may include a recording devicesuch as a VCR that is arranged in between set-top box 9902 and displaydevice 9904. Other arrangements for connecting set-top box 9902, displaydevice 9904, and a recording device may also be used.

PVR integrated set-top box 9902 may receive signals transmitted bydistribution facility 110 (FIG. 1). PVR integrated set-top box 9902 mayinclude a storage device or memory for storing personal user preferencessettings, user-selected reminders, recordings, program information, orother information. If desired, the PVR that is part of set-top box 9902may be used to store such information. PVR hardware and/or software maybe integrated with set-top box hardware and/or software to provideset-top box 9902. If the user desires to record a program, set-top box9902 may tune to a particular channel and may record that program usingthe integrated PVR. If desired, the interactive television applicationmay provide the user with the ability to transfer PVR recordedaudio/visual signals between set-top box 9902 and a recording devicethat is external to set-top box 9902.

A user may interact with the components in user television equipment9900 and with an interactive television application using one or moreinput devices, such as remote control 9906 through wireless link 9910.

FIG. 2C shows another arrangement for providing personal video recorderservices in which a remote server is used to provide personal videorecorder services. With reference now to FIG. 2C, user equipment 9920may include set-top box 9922, display device 9926, and remote control9936. User equipment 9920 may include equipment such as set-top box 9922for communicating with server 9908. Server 9908 may be configured toprovide personal video recorder services to user equipment 9920. Server9908 may for example automatically record programs for user equipment9920 or may record programs based on user selections. Server 9908 mayplayback recordings for display on display device 9926. Other PVRrelated features may also be provided. Server 9908 may be a serverlocated at a distribution facility such as distribution facility 110 ofFIG. 1 or may be located at some other suitable location.

If desired, user equipment may include recording equipment 9924 whichmay include one or more recording devices such as personal videorecorder 9928 and videocassette recorder 9930. Recording equipment 9924may, if desired, provide additional recording features and/orcapabilities to a user. For example, recording equipment 9924 may beused to record or transfer programs that are playing from or stored onserver 9908. Set-top box 9922 may receive signals transmitted bydistribution facility 110 (FIG. 1). Set-top box 9922 may include astorage device or memory for storing personal user preferences settings,user-selected reminders, or other information. If desired, server 9908or recording device 9924 may also be used for storing such information.

Set-top box 9922 may send audio/video signal and signals that arerepresentative of graphics through recording equipment 9924 to displaydevice 9926 for presentation to the user. A user may interact with anyof the components in user equipment 9920 and with an interactivetelevision application using one or more input devices, such as remotecontrol 9936 through wireless link 9934. Remote control 9936 may be usedinteract with server 9908 through set-top box 9922. Examples of theseand other options are illustratively shown in Rudnick et al., U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/330,860, filed Jun. 16, 1998, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIG. 3 shows illustrative remote control 308 that may include variousfunction buttons. Remote control 308 may include primary option buttons302 that may provide a user with access to frequently used actions in aninteractive television application. Primary option buttons 302 mayinclude power button 320, menu button 332, info button 310, lock button322, exit button 324, music button 314, and edit button 316. Menu button332 may provide the user with the ability to cause a menu display screento be displayed. Info button 310 may provide the user with the abilityto display an information display screen. Lock button 322 may providethe user with the ability to modify access privileges to certainprograms, channels, or other television content. Exit button 324 mayprovide the user with the ability to exit a program guide or otherapplication. Music button 314 may provide the user with the ability tolisten to music channels that carry audio. Edit button 316 may providethe user with the ability to edit stored program content, such as toremove commercials, remove pieces of a program, or perform other editingfunctions.

Remote control 308 may include alphanumeric buttons 304 that may be usedfor entry of alphanumeric characters. Alphanumeric buttons 304 mayfurther include last button 334 which may provide the user with theability to return to the last channel that was watched or the lastscreen that was displayed.

Remote control 308 may include task buttons 306 that may provide meansfor directing a task to be performed by user equipment (e.g., userequipment 200 of FIG. 2A). Task buttons 306 may include, for example,play button 338, pause button 340, stop button 342, rewind button 344,fast-forward button 346, record button 336, “OK” button 312, or anyother suitable task button.

Remote control 308 may include control buttons 388 that may includevolume control buttons 326, navigation buttons 330, and channel controlbuttons 328. Navigation buttons 330 may provide the user with theability to adjust or move a desired element (e.g., a cursor, a highlightwindow, etc.) vertically or horizontally in a display screen. Forexample, if the desired element is a cursor in an interactive televisionapplication display screen, navigation buttons 330 may be used to movethe cursor in the display screen. “OK” button 312 in task buttons 306,in combination with navigation buttons 330, may provide the user withthe ability to make on-screen selections. Remote control buttons arealso sometimes referred to herein as remote control keys.

Personal video recorder features may, for example, be accessed through amain menu of an interactive television program guide. FIG. 4 showsillustrative process 400 for accessing PVR-related functions from a mainmenu display screen. With reference now to FIG. 4, at step 402, theinteractive television application may display a main menu displayscreen (one example of which is shown in FIG. 5). Step 402 may beperformed for example when a user presses a remote control menu buttonor when the user takes other suitable actions. At step 402, the IPGapplication may provide the user with the ability to access a programlistings display screen, a recordings display screen, a scheduledrecordings display screen, or any other suitable screens or options froma main menu display screen.

At step 404, the interactive television application may display aprogram listings display screen when a user for example selects aprogram listings option that is displayed in a main menu display screen.

Different types of program listings display screens may be displayed. Atstep 414, the interactive television application may display a by timeprogram listings display screen when a user, for example, selects a bytime program listings option. At step 416, the interactive televisionapplication may display a by channel program listings display screenwhen a user, for example, selects a by channel program listings option.At step 418, the interactive television application may display a bytype program listings display screen when a user, for example, selects aby type program listings option. At step 420, the interactive televisionapplication may display a search program listings display screen when,for example, search results from a search selected by a user aredisplayed. Illustrative display screens that may be provided based onsteps 414, 416, 418, and 420 are shown in FIGS. 7 and 13-15.

At step 405, the interactive television application may display a PVRsetup display screen when a user, for example, selects a PVR setupoption that is displayed in a main menu display screen. Illustrativesteps involved in providing step 405 are shown in FIG. 17. At step 406,the interactive television application may display a recordings displayscreen when a user for example selects a recordings option that isdisplayed in the main menu display screen. Illustrative steps involvedin providing step 406 are shown in FIG. 35. At step 408, the interactivetelevision application may display a scheduled recordings display screenwhen a user for example selects a scheduled recordings option that isdisplayed in the main menu display screen. Illustrative steps involvedin providing step 408 are shown in FIG. 42. At step 410, the interactivetelevision application may display a delete priority display screen whena user for example selects a delete priority option that is displayed inthe main menu display screen. At step 412, the interactive televisionapplication may display a priority level information display screen whena user for example selects a priority information option that isdisplayed in the main menu display screen.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative main menu display screen 500 that may beprovided by an interactive television application. Display screen 500may include selectable advertisement 502, selectable PPV advertisement504, and selectable horizontal bar advertisement 520. Display screen 500may also include various menu headings, such as program listings heading508, cable showcase heading 510, and viewer services heading 512.Program listings heading 508 may be a heading for options for displayingprogram listings such as by time option 509, by channel option 511,sports option 513, and search option 514. Cable showcase heading 510 maybe a heading for options that are showcased by the cable provider suchas PPV option 516 and VOD option 517. Viewer services heading 512 may bea heading for options for providing various interactive services such asPVR services to a user. Such options may include recordings option 518,scheduled recordings option 524, delete priority option 526, PVR setupoption 528, and priority information option 530.

Display screen 500 may include highlight window 522. An interactivetelevision application may provide a user with the ability to movehighlight window 522 within display screen 500 using remote controlnavigation buttons. A user may be provided with the ability to select anitem on display screen 500 by pressing a data entry button, such as aremote control “OK” button when highlight window 522 is positioned overthat item.

If desired, the interactive features that are provided in display screen500 may be accessed through other means.

An interactive television application may permit users to schedule andconfigure recordings for PPV and non-PPV programs from a listingsscreen, a browse overlay, a flip overlay, program video, anadvertisement, or any other suitable location. FIG. 6 shows illustrativeprocess 600 for selecting and configuring a non-PPV and non-VOD programto be recorded. At step 612, an interactive television application mayallow a user to select a program to be recorded by selecting a recordbutton for a program. The record button may be selected from practicallyany suitable display screen, overlay, or video that a user is watching.The record button may be pressed for a program listed in a programlistings display screen, in a browse overlay, in a flip overlay, in agrid, in an advertisement, or in any other suitable video or graphic. Auser may select a program to be recorded by pressing a record buttonwhen a user is watching that program. A user may highlight a program inan overlay or display screen and press a record button to select thatprogram to be recorded. In a display screen that does not support theuse of highlight windows, a user may simply press a record or “OK”button to select the record feature. An information option may beselected for example by moving a highlight window over a program listingand pressing a remote control info button. At step 618, in response tothe user pressing a remote control record button for a particularprogram, the interactive television application may schedule thatprogram for a one-time recording with default settings.

At step 632, a program information display screen may be displayed whena user selects an information option for a particular program. Theprogram information display screen may include information describingthat program. The interactive television application may provide a userwith related program guide options at step 634. Related program guideoptions may include last, watch/remind, lock, other air times, and othersuitable program guide options. Examples of these and other options areillustratively shown in Rudnick et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/356,268, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. At step 638, a record option may bedisplayed in the program information display screen to provide the userwith the ability to select a record option for the program that isdescribed in the information display screen.

If the user selects a record option, the interactive televisionapplication may proceed to step 606. At step 606, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to setup arecording. Step 606 may include steps 646, 648, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654,655, 656, and 657. At step 648, the interactive television applicationmay provide the user with the ability to select the recording qualitythat will be used for the recording. For example, the user may selectlow quality, medium quality, high quality, or any other suitablerecording quality. At steps 652 and 654, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to respectively setthe length of the recording buffers that will be used before and afterthe scheduled broadcast time of a program that is to be recorded. Thelength of a recording buffer may, for example, be set to one minute, twominutes, or any other suitable length of time. Examples of interactivetelevision program guides that have features for setting recordingbuffers are shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/821,005, filed Mar. 29, 2001, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Other examples of interactivetelevision program guides that have features for setting recordingbuffers are shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/924,239, filed Sep. 5, 1997 which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

At step 651, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to set the recording priority for a program. Therecording priority options may, for example, include a can't misspriority, an if possible priority, a desired priority, an if spaceavailable priority, or any other suitable recording priority. A can'tmiss recording priority may indicate that the program must be recorded,in preference to all other programs airing simultaneously, andrecordings may be deleted to clear space for the program. An if possiblepriority may indicate that the program should be recorded if at allpossible, unless there are conflicts with can't miss programs airingsimultaneously, or unless any can't miss programs that are recordedwould have to be deleted. A desired priority may indicate that the userwould like the program to be recorded, unless there are conflicts withcan't miss priority programs or with if possible priority programs, orunless any can't miss priority programs or if possible priority programsthat are recorded would have to be deleted. An if space availablepriority may indicate that the program should be recorded if there isspace to do so and if it does not conflict with any higher priorityprograms.

At step 650, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select a series setup option. A series setup optionmay only be available if the selected program is part of a series. Atstep 646, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select a save option to schedule the currentlyselected program to be recorded and to save the recording settings to beused for that recording. In response to a selection of a save option atstep 646, the interactive television application may also set a reminderfor the scheduled recording.

At step 656, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to cancel and exit to the previous display screen. Atstep 653, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select an option to not record a program if thatprogram is not actually an episode of a series that has been selectedfor a series recording. At step 655, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select an option tonot record a particular episode of a series that has been selected forseries recording, but to continue to record other episodes of theseries. At step 657, the interactive television application may providethe user with the ability to select to not record any further episodesof a series that was selected to be series recorded.

If the user selects the series setup option, the interactive televisionapplication may proceed to step 608. At step 608, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to setup aseries recording based on a currently selected program. A seriesrecording allows the user to record a series of episodes in a particularprogram series. Step 608 may include steps 662, 664, 666, 668, 670, 672,674, 676, 678, 680, 682, 684, 686, and 688. At step 664, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to select asave option to have the interactive television application schedule aseries of recordings and to save the series setup settings that the userselected. At step 666, the interactive television application mayprovide type of episode options that may include steps 680, 682, and684. At step 680, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to select whether the interactive televisionapplication should record programs seen before. At step 682, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto select whether the interactive television application should recordseries programs that are repeats. At step 684, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to selectto record syndicated episodes, first-run episodes, or both syndicatedand first-run episodes for a series recording.

At step 668, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to choose the maximum number of series episodes to saveon a PVR. For example, the user may choose to save one episode, twoepisodes, three episodes, all episodes, or any other suitable number ofepisodes. If the user selects a specific number of episodes to save, theinteractive television application may automatically delete a previouslyrecorded episode when a new episode is recorded to maintain the totalnumber of saved episodes at the number selected by the user. Previouslyrecorded episodes may be deleted based on the age of a recording, basedon the viewing status with respect to one or more users, or based onother criteria. If the user selects the total number of episodes to beall recorded episodes, programs other than episodes in that series maybe deleted first in order to free storage space for recordings.

At step 670, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to limit the channels on which programs in a serieswill be recorded. For example, the user may choose the recordingchannel(s) for a series recording to be the original channel from whichthe current series recording was scheduled, to be all possible channels,to be a user-selected selection of channels, or to be any other suitableselection of channels. At step 672, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select to view alist of episodes or programs in the series. If the user selects to viewthe list of programs in the series, the interactive televisionapplication may proceed to step 674 to have the list of programsdisplayed.

At step 676, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to limit on which days the program may be recorded. Forexample, the user may choose to record episodes that air on the same dayof the week as the selected episode, that air on any day of the week, orthat air on some other combination of days. At step 678, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to selectat which time of day a program may be recorded. For example, the usermay choose to have a program recorded at prime time, late night, earlymorning, day time, same time of day as the selected episode (i.e.,episode for which record option was selected), or any other time, orcombination of times. At step 686, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to exit a seriesrecording setup display screen and schedule the program as a one-timerecording. At step 688, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to save the settings for a seriesrecording as a series reminder without scheduling any recordings.

PVR related functionality may be integrated into a program listingsdisplay screen or any screen that shows one or more programs orinformation about one or more programs. FIG. 7 shows illustrativeprogram listings display screen 700 that may be provided by theinteractive television application. Display screen 700 may be displayedin response to the use of a search option. Display screen 700 mayinclude a list of program titles that are presented in listing bars 702.A program listing in listing bars 702 may include recorded content icon704 that indicates that a recording for that listing is currentlyavailable for playback. Recorded content icon 704 may permit users todistinguish between programs that are available for playback from a PVRand programs that will be airing in the future. Future programs mayinclude VOD programs, PPV programs, broadcast television programs, orother programming that is available through a source other than a PVR.

A program listing may include scheduled recording icon 706 to indicatethat a program that is identified in that listing is scheduled to berecorded. Scheduled recording icon 706 may be displayed for a particularprogram for example, when a user has selected a record option for thatprogram, or when an interactive television application schedules thatprogram to be recorded based on user profile information. A programlisting may include a cancelled recording priority icon 703 to indicatethat a program that was scheduled to be recorded may not be recorded dueto a conflict that the interactive television application resolved bycanceling the scheduled recording based on recording priorities.Priorities are discussed in more detail in connection with FIG. 9.Display screen 700 may include content rating icon 708 to indicateprogram content ratings.

Display screen 700 may include parental control icon 710 to indicatethat a program is parentally locked. In display screen 700, the programCosby may be parentally locked and may also be scheduled for recording.A listing for Cosby includes both parental lock icon 710 and scheduledrecording icon 706. Despite the lock status of the program, theinteractive television application may still record the program. If auser desires to watch a locked program while it is being recorded, theuser may be required to enter a parental control code. Parental locksmay always be enforced on playback, in that the parental control codemay be required for playback of any program that has a locked title,rating, or channel. Examples of parental control locks and other relatedoptions are illustratively shown in Herrington et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/635,596, filed Aug. 9, 2000, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Series recording icon 714 may be included in a listing to indicate thata series recording has been set for that particular listing. Scheduledrecordings and series recordings may be intermixed with other listingsin display screen 700. If there are recorded episodes or upcomingepisodes for a particular program or series that is listed in displayscreen 700, only one listing for that program or series may be includedin display screen 700. Selecting that program in display screen 700 maycause the display of an information display screen for an oldestrecorded episode of that program and may cause the display of a timesoption in the information display screen that may allow a user to accessinformation on other recorded and upcoming episodes of that program.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select a record option for a particular program by movinghighlight window 712 over a listing bar such as listing bar 702 for aparticular program and pressing remote control record button. Inresponse to the selection of the record option, the interactivetelevision application may set a particular program to be recorded. Theinteractive television application may schedule a one-time recording forthat program using default recording configuration settings. If a userpresses a record button a second time, the interactive televisionapplication may schedule a series recording based on a currentlyhighlighted program when the currently highlighted program is part of aseries. If a user presses a remote control record button a third time,the interactive television application may cancel a series recording. Ifa currently highlighted program is not part of a series, pressing aremote control record button may toggle the record setting for thatprogram.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select an information option for a particular listing bymoving highlight window 712 over a listing bar such as listing bar 702and pressing a remote control info button. Program information displayscreen 800 of FIG. 8 may be displayed in response to the selection of aninformation option for a particular listing.

An interactive television application may display program informationdisplay screens that are configured differently for different programsbased on whether programs are PPV programs, whether programs areavailable for playback from a PVR, whether programs are programs thatare scheduled to be recorded, whether programs are currently airing,whether programs are VOD programs, etc. FIG. 8 shows illustrativeprogram information display screen 800 for a non-PPV program that may beprovided by the interactive television application. With reference nowto FIG. 8, display screen 800 may include title display bar 806 and mayinclude program video 840 for a program that is currently airing on atuned channel.

Display screen 800 may include record option 830. In response to aselection of record option 830 or a user pressing a remote controlrecord button, the interactive television application may displayprogram recording setup display screen 900 shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 shows illustrative program recording setup display screen 900that may be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 900 may provide the user with the ability to set or modifyvarious recording settings, including the ability to schedule one-timeand series recordings. Save option 902, quality option 904, series setupoption 910, buffer time before option 912, buffer time after option 914,recording priority option 916, not an episode option 922, cancel thisepisode option 924, and cancel all episodes option 926 may be providedbased on illustrative steps 646, 648, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, and657, shown in FIG. 6. Other options may be shown if desired. Seriessetup option 910, not an episode option 922, cancel this episode option924, and cancel all episodes option 926 may be displayed when displayscreen 900 is displayed for a program that is part of a series or partof a series recording. To schedule a recording for the program for whichrecord option 830 of FIG. 8 was selected, a user may select save option902, which will schedule the recording with the default recordingsettings or with any recording settings that are selected by the user indisplay screen 900. If desired, the application may allow a user toselect a record option for a program that already has a recordingscheduled. In this case, the application may display a screen such asdisplay screen 900 to allow the user to modify or cancel the recording.

If desired, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to schedule a manual recording by specifying a channel,date, time, and duration. Recordings may be scheduled for example for atleast two weeks in advance by entering the channel, date, time, andduration. When the interactive television application identifies datamatching the manual recording, the manual recording may be converted toa program-based recording (a one-time recording).

An interactive television application may also save content that isrelated to a program that is being recorded. Related content may includeprogram information, Advanced Television Forum (“ATVEF”) content, WinkContent, Advanced Compatible Television (“ACTV”) streams, or othervideo, graphics, software, or text content. The interactive televisionapplication may allow a user to record a digital music channel when auser is listening to a channel or to record a digital music channel bymanually selecting a date, time, channel, and duration for a recording.The interactive television application may record the title, track,artist and other music information related to the digital musicrecording.

Series setup option 910 may only be available if the selected program isan episode of a series. The interactive television application may notpresent a series setup option for PPV programs, and may not allow a userto configure series recordings for PPV programs. However, if a PPVprogram is part of a package (e.g., a recurring PPV program), theinteractive television application may allow a user to configure aseries recording for all programs in a package. To configure a seriesrecording for a PPV package, the interactive television application mayrequire a user to purchase a package before a series recording may beconfigured. If desired a package purchase option may be provided to auser as part of a recording setup screens.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 918 over quality option 904 and toscroll through quality settings to set the recording quality to be usedfor a recording. The quality level may be set to low quality, mediumquality, high quality, or some other suitable quality. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 918 over buffer time before option 912 or buffer timeafter option 914 and to use remote control navigation buttons to set therecording buffer time before and after to be used for a scheduledbroadcast time of a program that is to be recorded. The recording buffertime may be set to no buffer time, one minute, two minutes, or any othersuitable duration.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select not an episode option 922 by moving highlight window918 over not an episode option 922 and pressing a remote control “OK”button. In response to a selection of not an episode option 922, theinteractive television application records programs that are episodes ina series but does not record programs that actually are not episodes inthat series. For example, in situations where a particular program has atitle that matches a particular series, that program may not be recordedbecause that program may not actually be part of that series. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto select cancel this episode option 924 by moving highlight window 918over cancel this episode option 924 and pressing a remote control “OK”button. In response to a selection of cancel this episode option 924,the interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select to not record this episode of a series, but tocontinue to record other episodes of a series. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to selectcancel all episodes option 926 by moving highlight window 918 overcancel all episodes option 926 and pressing a remote control “OK”button. In response to a selection of cancel all episodes option 926,the interactive television application may cancel the recording of anyfurther episodes in a series and may cancel the series recording. Saveoption 902 may be used to schedule a recording and save the recordingsettings that were selected by that user.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select series setup option 910 by moving highlight window 918over series setup option 910 and pressing a remote control “OK” button.The interactive television application may display a series recordingsetup display screen in response to the selection of series setup option910. Space available indicator 920 may be shown, and may be updated asoptions are changed on this screen. Indicator 920 may indicate orestimate how much recording time is available for future programs. Ifdesired, it may be based on the priority of the selected program. Forexample, it may indicate how much space is available for recordingprograms that have the currently specified priority (e.g., a can't misspriority, an if possible priority, a desired priority, an if spaceavailable priority, etc.) in recording priority option 916.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 918 over recording priority option 916and to scroll through recording priority settings to set the recordingpriority for a recording. Recording priority may be set to can't misspriority, if possible priority, desired priority, if space availablepriority, or any other suitable priority. Recording priority option 916may be used to set the recording priority for a specific recording or aseries recording.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select series setup option 910 by moving highlight window 918over series setup option 910 and pressing a remote control “OK” button.The interactive television application may display a series recordingsetup display screen in response to the selection of series setup option910. A series setup option may only be included in display screen 900when the selected program is part of a series. FIG. 10 showsillustrative series recording setup display screen 1000 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Display screen 1000may provide the user with the ability to set or modify settings forseries recordings. Save setup option 1002, number of episodes option1004, channels to record option 1006, see all episodes option 1008, daysto record option 1012, time to record option 1014, record programs seenbefore option 1016, record repeats of programs option 1018, episode typeoption 1020, save as one-time option 1022, and save as reminder option1024 may be provided based on illustrative steps 664, 668, 670, 672,676, 678, 680, 682, 684, 686, and 688 shown in FIG. 6. Other options maybe shown if desired.

A user may be permitted to configure a series recording using displayscreen 1000. The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to move highlight window 1010 over number of episodesoption 1004 and to scroll through the numbers to set the number ofepisodes for the series recording to be saved on the PVR at one time.The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 1010 over channels to record option1006 and to use remote control navigation buttons to scroll through toselect which channels are to be used for the series recording. Theseries recording channel selections may include for example the originalchannel for a program that was used to set a series recording, allpossible channels, a user-selected selection of channels, a specifictype of channel such as broadcast or premium channel, or any othersuitable selection of channels. In response to a selection of see allepisodes option 1008 (e.g., by moving a highlight window over option1008 and pressing a remote control “OK” key), the interactive televisionapplication may display a series recording listings display screen. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 1010 over days to record option 1012 and to useremote control navigation buttons to scroll to select on which daysprograms in the series are to be recorded. A user may select a specificday, all days, or any other suitable combination of days. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 1010 over time to record option 1014 and to useremote control navigation buttons to scroll to select at what timeprograms in a series recording will be recorded. A user may select torecord the program during prime time, late night, early morning, daytime, same time of day as the selected episode, or any other time orcombination of times. By default if a user does not select a time, theinteractive television application may choose to only record episodesthat air during the same time of day as the selected program.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 1010 over record programs seen beforeoption 1016 and scroll between yes or no to select whether theinteractive television application should record programs seen by theuser before. The interactive television application may maintain a logof all programs viewed by a particular user in order to make thisdetermination. The interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to move highlight window 1010 over record repeatprograms option 1018 and scroll between yes or no to select if theinteractive television application should record programs that arerepeats. The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to move highlight window 1010 over episode type option1020 and scroll through episode type settings to select which episodetypes should be recorded. The types for episodes in a series recordingmay include syndicated episodes, first-run episodes, both syndicatedepisodes and first-run episodes, or any other suitable type of episode.The episode type may also include a specification indicating duringwhich season or seasons the desired episodes originally aired.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 1010 over save as one-time option 1022to exit display screen 1000 and schedule the program as a one-timerecording only. This switch from a series recording to a one-timerecording may deselect the series recording feature for this program.The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 1010 over save as reminder option 1024to exit display screen 1000 and save the configured settings as a seriesreminder without scheduling recordings. A user may select save setupoption 1002 to save the settings that the user selects in display screen1000.

An interactive television application may display a list of allscheduled programs that may be episodes in this series. FIG. 11 showsillustrative series listings display screen 1100 that may be provided bythe interactive television application. Display screen 1100 may bedisplayed in response to a selection of see all episodes option 1008 indisplay screen 1000 of FIG. 10. With reference now to FIG. 11, displayscreen 1100 may list all programs that are in this series and mayinclude upcoming programs, recorded programs, or programs that arescheduled to be recorded. Programs in the list that are scheduled to berecorded may have been scheduled for recording based on the recordingoptions and series options selected by a user in FIGS. 9 and 10.Examples of interactive television program guides that have seriesrecording features are illustratively shown in Knudson et al., U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Display screen1100 may include listing bars such as bar 1102, that may include dates,times, and channels for scheduled recordings for episodes in a programsseries. Icon 1104 may be included in listing bar 1102 to indicate that aparticular program may have been scheduled to be recorded as a seriesrecording. Display screen 1100 may include delete this episode option1108. The interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to move highlight window 1106 over delete this episodeoption 1108 to select to delete the particular listed episode that isassociated with delete this episode option 1108. Following thisselection, the scheduled recording for that episode may be deleted.

The user may also select an individual listing to see the programinformation screen for that episode. The individual episode may bedeleted from the series recording from that screen. The user may alsoselect episodes that are not scheduled to be recorded, and the user maycause the interactive television application to schedule them to berecorded as well. The interactive television application may alsodisplay additional information on this screen about the highlightedepisode, or about all episodes on this screen. The information mayinclude a series episode title, an episodic description, guest actors,or any other information of interest.

FIG. 12 shows illustrative keyword-based recording display screen 1150that may be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 1150 may provide the user with the ability to add and removekeyword-based recordings. Display screen 1150 may include searchparameter 1152, add keyword option 1154, list of keywords 1156, andremove option 1160. The interactive television application may providethe user with the ability to use remote control alpha-numeric buttons toenter a keyword into search parameter 1152.

Display screen 1150 may provide the user with the ability to select addkeyword option 1154 to setup a keyword-based recording based on searchparameter 1152. In response to an addition of a keyword, the interactivetelevision application may automatically schedule recordings based onthat keyword. The interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to scroll keywords in list 1156 so that keywordsare positioned in highlight window 1158. Highlight window 1158 may beheld stationary while listings in list 1156 are scrolled. To remove acurrent keyword in highlight window 1158, a user may press a remotecontrol right navigation button to position highlight window 1158 overremove option 1160 and then press remote control “OK” button. Theinteractive television application may also allow the user to select akeyword from the keyword list and view a list of matching programs froma database of upcoming programs or from a database of recorded programs.

FIG. 13 shows illustrative sports listings display screen 230 that maybe provided by the interactive television application. Display screen230 may be displayed in response to a selection of sports option 513 ofFIG. 5. Display screen 230 may be a display screen for a sports programtype, but the characteristics described below with respect to displayscreen 230 may also be for listings display screens that are displayedfor other program types, such as movies, children, comedy, PPV, and anyother types. If desired, a similar screen may be displayed for asubcategory of programs, such as comedy movies. Display screen 230 mayinclude listing bars, such as listing bar 232. Highlight window 236 maybe used to make selections in display screen 230. Listing bar 232 mayinclude recorded content icon 234 to indicate that the programidentified in listing bar 232 may be available from a PVR. In listing bytype display screen 230, recorded programs may be included on the listbefore other programs (e.g., before listing upcoming programs). Ifdesired, the recorded programs in the list may be sorted first bypriority and then by the date recorded.

FIG. 14 shows illustrative by channel listings display screen 240 thatmay be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 240 may be displayed in response to a selection of by channeloption 511 of FIG. 5. Display screen 240 may display a list of programsthat are on a particular channel. Display screen 240 may include changechannel option 242 that may provide the user with the ability to scrollthrough the different channels provided by a user's television serviceprovider to view listings on those channels. A list of recorded programsmay be a particular channel choice that is in the list of channelsavailable using channel change option 242. The list of recorded programsmay be positioned as a channel choice between the highest number channeland the lowest numbered channel. Display screen 240 may list recordedprograms within listing bars, such as listing bar 244. The recordedprograms may be sorted by priority and then by date and time.

In another embodiment, recorded programs may be listed with the listingsfor the channel that the program was recorded from. Recorded programsmay be listed first, followed by current and upcoming programs.Highlight window 246 may be used to make selections in display screen240.

FIG. 15 shows illustrative by time listings display screen 250 that maybe provided by the interactive television application. Display screen250 may be displayed in response to a selection of by time option 509 ofFIG. 5. Display screen 250 may display a list of programs available tobe viewed by the user at a particular time. Recorded programs may alsobe included in this list of programs. Recorded programs may be includedin this list between the highest and lowest numbered channels.

Display screen 250 may include change time option 252 that may beprovide the user with the ability to scroll through listings by time.Display screen 250 may include listing bars for recorded programs, suchas listing bar 254. Highlight window 259 may be used to make selectionsin display screen 250. If desired, as the user scrolls through differenttimes using change time option 252, the recorded program or programslisted may be changed. Display screen 250 may also include listing barsfor current or upcoming programs, such as program listing bar 258. Asshown in display screen 250, the recorded programs are listed betweenthe highest and lowest numbered channels. If desired, channel zero maybe designated for accessing listings of recorded programs. For example,in response to a selection of channel zero, the interactive televisionapplication may quickly show listings for recorded programs in displayscreen 250. If desired, there may be a quick access option to provideaccess to a complete list of all recorded programs. If desired, the bytime display screen may show multiple half hours of programming, forexample in a grid format.

FIG. 16 shows illustrative browse or flip overlay 260 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Examples ofinteractive television program guides with browse and flip features areillustratively shown in Boyer et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/330,793, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Overlay 260 may include change channeloption 262. When the interactive television application is in a browsemode, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to scroll through channels using change channel option 262.In response to a change of a channel, title 264 may change to be thetitle of the current program on the new channel. A title for a recordedprogram may be displayed when a user changes the channel to a channelchoice that has been designated for recorded programs. Recorded programsmay be designated between the highest and lowest numbered channel.

In response to pressing a remote control right or left arrow keys, theinteractive television application may display titles, in title 264, forlater or earlier programs on a currently selected channel when thecurrently selected channel is a regular television channel. In responseto pressing a remote control right or left arrow key, when a title of arecorded program is being displayed, the interactive televisionapplication may display the title of other recorded programs. Titles ofrecorded programs may be sorted by priority, date, or any other suitablecriteria. In response to pressing a remote control “OK” button, when thetitle of a current program on a different channel is displayed, theinteractive television application may change to that channel. Inresponse to pressing a remote control “OK” button, when the title of arecorded program is displayed in title 264, the interactive televisionapplication may play that recorded program. In response to pressing aremote control info key, the interactive television application maydisplay an information display screen for a program that is identifiedin title 264. The information display screen may be displayed for aprogram that is currently airing, upcoming, or recorded.

When the interactive television application is in a flip mode, a usermay change the channel to change the current channel that is beingdisplayed and to change title 264 of the current program on that channelin overlay 260. A channel choice for recorded programs may not beavailable in flip mode. Alternatively, a channel may be available duringflip mode to view recorded program. The interactive televisionapplication may start to play a recorded program when a user flips tothe recorded program. If the program had previously been partiallyviewed, flipping to the recorded program may the interactive televisionapplication to start to play the program from the point at which viewingmost recently ended. Flip mode may be made to be available when a useris watching a live television program that is playing from a buffer forthat program. As used herein, a live television program refers to aprogram that is being viewed at the same time it is broadcast.

An interactive television application may permit users to set PVR setupoptions. FIG. 17 shows illustrative process 430 that may be used forsetting PVR setup options. At step 432, the interactive televisionapplication may display a PVR setup display screen. At step 432, PVRsetup options may be provided to the user and may include steps 434,436, 438, 440, 442, 444, 446, 448, 450, 452, 454, 456, 458, 466, 468,and 470.

At step 434, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to edit the recording buffer time that is to be usedbefore and after programs that are scheduled to be recorded on aparticular channel or programs that have a particular program type. Ifthe user selects to edit the recording buffer time before and after, theinteractive television application may display a recording buffer timebefore/after by channel/type display screen at step 460. At step 436,the interactive television application may provide the user with theability to set the default quality for a recording. At step 438, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto edit the quality of a recording based on the program channel orprogram type. If the user selects to edit the quality of a recording bychannel or type, the interactive television application may display anedit quality of recording by channel/type display screen at step 462. Atstep 440, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to set the quality of a series recording. At steps 442and 444, the interactive television application may respectively providethe user with the ability to set a default for the recording buffer timebefore and the recording buffer time after to be used for scheduledrecordings.

At step 446, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to set the default recording priority for a program.The recording priority option may, for example, include a can't misspriority, an if possible priority, a desired priority, an if spaceavailable priority, or any other suitable priority. At step 448, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto set buffer options, which may include steps 466, 468, and 470. It isto be understood that the word buffer is sometimes used herein to referto a recording buffer that will be used to record television contentbefore or after a scheduled recording to prevent cutoffs due to schedulevariations and at some other times to refer to buffering live televisionto allow for features such as pause of live television.

At step 466, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to set the maximum size (or maximum time) to be usedfor buffering live television. At step 468, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to set the quality ofa buffer for live television. If desired, the user may choose differentbuffer qualities for different channels, different channel types, ordifferent program types. At step 470, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select an option toresolve recording buffer time conflicts. If the user selects to resolverecording buffer time conflicts, the interactive television applicationmay display a buffer time conflicts display screen at step 464.

At step 450, the interactive television application may provide defaultseries recordings options that may include steps 452, 454, 456, and 458.At step 452, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select whether, by default, the interactivetelevision application should record programs that a user has seenbefore. At step 454, the interactive television application may providethe user with the ability to select whether the interactive televisionapplication should, by default, record programs that are reruns. At step456, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to select which channels the interactive televisionapplication should use, by default, to record series episodes. At step458, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to select, by default, to record syndicated episodes,first-run episodes, or both syndicated and first-run episodes for aseries recording. All of the options set in this process may be storedin memory, and used as defaults when a new recording is scheduled. Anyof these settings may be overridden when a recording is scheduled. Ifdesired, individual settings of PVR defaults may be entered for eachuser.

FIG. 18 shows illustrative PVR setup display screen 540 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. PVR setup displayscreen 540 may be displayed when a user selects to configure a specificrecording or when a user selects to configure default recordingsettings. Display screen 540 may provide the user with the ability toset various settings for a PVR. If desired, PVR setup display screen 540may be displayed to include options for configuring a specific recordingwithout including options for setting system defaults. Conversely, PVRsetup display screen 540 may be displayed to include options forconfiguring system defaults without including options for configuring aspecific recording.

Display screen 540 may include buffer time before/after by channel/typeoption 542, default quality option 544, quality by channel/type option546, series recording quality option 548, default buffer time beforeoption 550, default buffer time after option 552, recording priorityoption 554, record programs seen before option 556, record repeatedprograms option 558, series recording channel selection option 560,series recording type option 562, buffer time conflicts option 563, sizeof live TV buffer option 570, and quality of live TV buffer option 572,which may be provided based on illustrative steps 434, 436, 438, 440,442, 444, 446, 452, 454, 456, 458, 466, 468, and 470 as shown in FIG.17. Other setup options may be provided if desired.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select buffer time before/after by channel/type option 542 bymoving highlight window 568 over buffer time before/after bychannel/type option 542 and pressing a remote control “OK” button. Theinteractive television application may display a buffer timebefore/after by channel/type display screen in response to a selectionof buffer time before/after by channel/type option 542. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 568 over default quality option 544 and to scrollthrough quality settings to select a default recording quality that maybe used for all recordings except recordings that have been specificallyconfigured by a user to have a particular quality setting, or unlessoverridden by options such as options 546 and 548. Display screen 1400of FIG. 25 may, for example, be used to set a recording quality for aspecific recording. If desired, display screen 540 may include an optionfor setting a recording quality for a specific recording.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select quality by channel/type option 546 by moving highlightwindow 568 over quality by channel/type option 546 and pressing a remotecontrol “OK” button. The interactive television application may displayan edit quality of recording by channel/type display screen in responseto a selection of quality by channel/type option 546.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 568 over series recording qualityoption 548 and to scroll through the default quality setting to be usedfor series recordings. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 568 overdefault buffer time before option 550 or default buffer time afteroption 552 and to scroll through available buffer time settings torespectively set the default recording buffer time before a scheduledrecording and the default recording buffer time after a scheduledrecording. The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to move highlight window 568 over recording priorityoption 554 and scroll through the priority settings to set the defaultrecording priority to be used for recordings. The recording priorityoptions may include, a can't miss priority, an if possible priority, adesired priority, an if space available priority, and other suitablerecording priority settings.

If desired, a recording priority that has been set for a program may beconverted to be a delete priority for a recording of that program. Anexample of this conversion may be that a program whose recordingpriority was set to be a can't miss priority may be converted to adelete priority of never delete when that program is recorded. Theremaining recording priority options may also have corresponding deletepriority options.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 568 over record programs seen beforeoption 556 and scroll between yes or no to set a default value forwhether the interactive television application may record programs seenby the user before. The interactive television application may providethe user with the ability to move highlight window 568 over recordrepeated programs option 558 and scroll between yes or no to set adefault value for whether the interactive television application shouldrecord programs that are reruns. The interactive television applicationmay provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 568 overseries recording channel selection option 560 and scroll through seriesrecording channel selection settings to select which channels may beused by default for performing series recordings. The channel selectionsmay include only the original channel, all possible channels, auser-selected selection of channels, or any other suitable selection ofchannels.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 568 over series recording type option562 and to scroll through series episode type settings to set which typeof episodes of a program may be recorded by default. The seriesrecording types for episodes may include syndicated episodes, first-runepisodes, both syndicated episodes and first-run episodes, or any othersuitable type of episode, such as whether to record all seasons, currentseason only, or other types of episodes. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select buffer timeconflict option 563 by moving highlight window 568 over buffer timeconflict option 563 and pressing a remote control “OK” button. Theinteractive television application may display a buffer time conflictdisplay screen in response to a selection of buffer time conflict option563. Buffer time conflict option 563 may be used to resolve conflicts inrecording buffer times. Save option 564 may be used to save any PVRsettings that may have been selected by the user in display screen 540.In response to a selection of cancel option 566, the interactivetelevision application may exit display screen 540 without saving any ofthe selections made by the user and may return the user to a previousdisplay screen.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 568 over size of live TV buffer option570 and scroll through size options to set how many hours of storagespace on a PVR may be used to record live television. Size of live TVbuffer option 570 may include a time element and a percent element thatmay indicate how much storage space on a PVR will be designated forbuffering live television. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 568 overquality of live TV buffer option 572 and scroll through quality optionsto set the quality of the live television buffer that may be used by thePVR to buffer live television.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 568 over activate recompression option574 and scroll between yes or no to set whether to activaterecompression for recorded programs. When option 574 is selected by auser, the interactive television application may recompress recordedprograms again through background processing using a more efficientdigital video compression technique, such as MPEG-4. Recompressing arecording may reduce the storage space that is consumed for thatparticular recording.

If desired, the application may allow the user to choose differentbuffer sizes based on channel, channel type, program type, or otherfactors. For example, one or more display screens or overlays may bedisplayed that include an option to assign different live televisionbuffer sizes to different channels, an option to assign different livetelevision buffer sizes to different programs types (e.g., movies,sports, documentary, talk show, new, or other program category orgenre), an option to assign different live television buffer sizes todifferent channels types (e.g., cable channel, network, broadcast, orother channel type), or an option to assign different buffer sizes toother factors. The interactive television application may allow a userto move a highlight window within these display screens or overlays tomake selections for the default settings (e.g. buffer size) for the livetelevision buffer. A display screen, such as that shown in FIG. 19 forsetting default recording buffer time before/after, may be used toimplement these live television buffer settings. These options may beaccessed by a user through a PVR setup display screen or through othersuitable means.

If desired, the application may allow the user to choose differentbuffer qualities based on channel, channel type, program type, or otherfactors. For example, one or more display screens or overlays may bedisplayed that include an option to assign different live televisionbuffer qualities to different channels, an option to assign differentlive television buffer qualities to different programs types (e.g.,movies, sports, documentary, talk show, new, or other program categoryor genre), an option to assign different live television bufferqualities to different channels types (e.g., cable channel, network,broadcast, or other channel type), or an option to assign differentbuffer qualities to other factors. The interactive televisionapplication may allow a user to move a highlight window within thesedisplay screens or overlays to make selections for the default settings(e.g. buffer quality) for the live television buffer. A display screensuch as that shown in FIG. 20 for setting default recording quality bycontent type may be used to implement these live television buffersettings. These options may be accessed by a user through a PVR setupdisplay screen or through other suitable means.

FIG. 19 shows illustrative buffer time before/after by channel/typedisplay screen 720 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 720 may provide the user with the ability toset default recording buffer times before and after scheduled recordingsof programs on a particular channel or programs of a particular type.Examples of interactive television program guides that may have featuresfor reducing recording cut-offs are illustratively shown in Ellis etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/881,005, filed Mar. 29, 2001,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Until a user manually sets the default recording buffer before and aftera scheduled recording by channel or by program type, the interactivetelevision application may set the recording buffer time for a programbased on options 550 and 552 of FIG. 18 that are used to set therecording default buffer time before and after programs that are to berecorded. In display screen 720, a user, for example, may set therecording buffer time after sports programs to be 15 minutes to accountfor the tendency of sports program to run longer than scheduled.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 742 over recording buffer time beforeby channel option 722 and to scroll through channels and to select aparticular channel of interest. Highlight window 742 may be moved overbuffer time before time option 724 to scroll through a selection oftimes and to set the recording buffer time to be used before programs onthat channel. The interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to move highlight window 742 over recording buffertime after by channel option 726 and to scroll through channels and toselect a particular channel of interest. Highlight window 742 may bemoved over buffer time after time option 728 to scroll through aselection of times and to set the recording buffer time to be used afterprograms on that channel.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 742 over recording buffer time beforeby program type option 730 and to scroll through program types to selecta particular program type of interest. Highlight window 742 may be movedover buffer time before time option 732 to scroll through a selection oftimes and to set the buffer time before to be used for programs of aparticular program type. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 742 overbuffer time after program type option 734 and to scroll through programtypes to select a particular program type of interest. Highlight window742 may be moved over buffer time after time option 736 to scrollthrough a selection of times and to set the buffer time after to be usedfor all programs of a particular program type. If desired, options 724,728, 732, and 736 may each include a “default” setting that will setthat feature to use a related default setting chosen in options 550 and552 of FIG. 18.

The interactive television application may allow a user to define thedefault buffer time before and buffer time after based on channel type.The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 742 over buffer time before by channeltype option 6912 and to scroll through channel types to select aparticular channel type of interest. Highlight window 742 may be movedover buffer time before time option 6914 to scroll through a selectionof times and to set the default buffer time before to be used forprograms on a particular type of channel.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 742 over buffer time after by channeltype option 6918 and to scroll through channel types to select aparticular channel type of interest. Highlight window 742 may be movedover buffer time after time option 6920 to scroll through a selection oftimes and to set the default buffer time after to be used for programson a particular type of channel.

Save option 738 may be used to save the settings for buffer time beforeand buffer time after that were selected by a user in display screen720. In response to a selection of cancel option 740, the interactivetelevision application may exit display screen 720 without saving any ofthe user selections and may return the user to a previous displayscreen.

FIG. 20 shows illustrative quality of recording by channel/type displayscreen 750 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 750 may provide the user with the ability toset default recording qualities for programs on a particular channel orprogram type. Until a user manually sets the default recording qualityfor programs on a particular channel or for a particular program type,the interactive television application may set each recording qualitybased on option 544 of FIG. 18, which is a general default recordingquality option.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 764 over channel option 752 and toscroll through channels to select a particular channel of interest.Highlight window 764 may be moved over channel quality option 754 toscroll through the recording quality options and to select a recordingquality for that channel. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 764 overprogram type option 756 and to scroll through program types to select aparticular program type of interest. Highlight window 764 may be movedover program type quality option 758 to scroll through the recordingquality options and to set the recording quality for that program type.If desired, the default quality for any channel or program type may beset to “default” in which case programs of that type or on that channelwill by default use the settings chosen in option 544 of FIG. 18. Ifdesired, the default recording quality for series recordings (option 548of FIG. 18) may also be set on screen 750 by setting program type option756 to “series” and using program type quality option 758 to select adesired recording quality.

If desired, the interactive television application may allow a user todefine the default recording quality based on channel type. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 764 over channel type option 6824 and to scrollthrough channels types (e.g., sports, movie, network, public access,premium, news, etc.) to select a particular channel type of interest.Highlight window 764 may be moved over channel type quality option 6826to scroll through the recording quality options and to set the defaultrecording quality that will be used based on channel type.

Save option 760 may be used to save the settings for the recordingquality that are selected by a user. In response to a selection ofcancel option 762, the interactive television application may exitdisplay screen 750 without saving any of the selections made by the userand may return the user to a previous display screen.

FIG. 21 shows illustrative buffer time conflicts display screen 770 thatmay be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 770 may provide the user with the ability to select settings forresolving recording conflicts between recording buffers and programs andalso resolve conflicts between different recording buffers. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 772 over recording buffer priority option 774and to scroll between yes or no to select whether recording buffersbefore and after should have a lower priority than programs that are tobe recorded. If the user selects yes for option 774, conflicts betweenprograms and recording buffers may be resolved in favor of programs.

The interactive television application may also provide the user withthe ability to select option 778 and option 780 to resolve recordingconflicts between buffers. If the user selects “yes” for option 778, theinteractive television application may resolve conflicts between buffersbased on the recording priority of a scheduled recording that isassociated with each buffer.

If the user selects “no” for option 778, option 780 may be used toassign different priorities to buffer times before and buffer timesafter. For example, option 780 may be used to assign buffer times afterto have a higher priority than buffer times before. Save option 784 andcancel option 786 may be used to either save settings selected by a useror to exit without saving the settings.

FIG. 22 shows illustrative priority level information display screen 870that may be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 870 may display the amount of free memory (total hours) remainingon a PVR. Display screen 870 may also display a list of how much memoryremains for use for each priority level and indicate when free memoryfor recordings will run out based on recordings that are currentlyscheduled.

Display screen 870 may include memory usage information section 872.Memory usage information section 872 indicates the total PVR memoryspace, the total memory used, and how much memory remains. The hoursavailable and hours remaining numbers may be based on any suitableassumptions about recording quality, such as average recording qualityof current recordings, the default recording quality, the recordingquality for upcoming recordings, or any other suitable method. Displayscreen 870 may include priority level information list 874. Prioritylevel information list 874 may include a list of each priority level, anindicator of how much memory is currently used for each priority level,and information on when the guide may start deleting programs to makeroom for new scheduled recordings that have a particular priority level.

An interactive television application may be implemented to provide PVRfeatures for PPV programming. FIG. 23 shows illustrative process 1200that may be used in selecting and configuring a PPV program. At step1216, the interactive television application may display a PPVinformation display screen for example when a user selects aninformation option for a particular PPV program from a listing screen orfrom any other location at which a user may be allowed to indicate aninterest in a particular PPV program. The interactive televisionapplication may provide related program guide options at step 1218.Related program guide options may include last, order/watch, remind,lock, times, and any other suitable program guide options. At step 1224,the interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select a record option to set and/or configure a PPVrecording. A record key on a remote control may also be used to set aPPV program to be recorded.

If the PPV program has not previously been ordered, the interactivetelevision application may walk the user through the ordering processbefore scheduling the recording. The user may set a recording priorityfor the PPV program. A step for setting a recording priority such asstep 651 of FIG. 6 may also be included in process 1200. Options orsteps that are related to series recordings such as steps 608, 653, 655,and 657 may also be included in process 1200 for example when a PPVprogram that is scheduled to be recorded is part of a package. Ifdesired, some of the series setup options may not be offered for PPVpackages, such as first-run/syndicated.

If the user chooses to record a PPV program, the interactive televisionapplication may require the user to order the PPV program beforescheduling a recording for that program. If desired, the interactivetelevision application may automatically order a PPV program when theuser selects to record the PPV program. In another embodiment, theinteractive television application may automatically display the PPVorder screens as part of the recording setup process. A recording maynot be scheduled if the user does not complete the order for a desiredPPV program. If the PPV program is not an impulse order PPV program(e.g., an Automatic Number Identification PPV program), the interactivetelevision application may allow the user to schedule a recording beforeplacing an order for the program.

If the user selects a record option for a PPV program, the interactivetelevision application may proceed to step 1206. At step 1206, PPVrecord related options may be provided to the user. Step 1206 mayinclude steps 1232, 1234, 1236, 1238, 1240, and 1242. At step 1234, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto select when the PPV program should be recorded. For example, the usermay select a particular broadcast from a list of PPV broadcast times. Atstep 1236, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select the recording quality for the PPV program. Atsteps 1238 and 1240, the interactive television application mayrespectively provide the user with the ability to set a recording buffertime before and a recording buffer time after the scheduled broadcast ofa desired PPV program. At step 1232, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select a saveoption to schedule the PPV program to be recorded and to save thesettings that have been selected by the user. At step 1242, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto cancel and exit to a previous display screen without scheduling arecording.

FIG. 24 shows illustrative program information display screen 1300 for aPPV program that has not yet been scheduled to be recorded. Displayscreen 1300 may be displayed in response to a selection of a remotecontrol info button when, for example, listing bar 702 of display screen700 of FIG. 7 is positioned over a PPV program. With reference now toFIG. 24, display screen 1300 may include title display bar 1306. Displayscreen 1300 may include program video 1340 for a program that iscurrently airing on a tuned channel. Display screen 1300 may includeinformation on a PPV program that is listed in display bar 1306 and mayinclude PPV program related program guide options.

Display screen 1300 may include record option 1330. In response to auser selecting record option 1330, the interactive televisionapplication may display PPV recording setup display screen 1400 as shownin FIG. 25.

With reference now to FIG. 25, PPV recording setup display screen 1400may include save option 1402, select time option 1410, quality option1404, buffer time before option 1412, buffer time after option 1414,cancel recording option 1416, and recording priority option 1420. Theseoptions may be provided based on illustrative steps 1232, 1234, 1236,1238, 1240, and 1242 shown in FIG. 23. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to move highlightwindow 1418 over select time option 1410 and to use remote controlnavigation buttons to scroll through scheduled times of a particular PPVprogram to select a recording time. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to move highlightwindow 1418 over quality option 1404 and to use remote controlnavigation buttons to scroll through recording quality settings toselect a quality for the recording. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to move highlightwindow 1418 over buffer time before option 1412 or buffer time afteroption 1414 and to use remote control navigation buttons to set thebuffer time before and after to be used for a recording. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 1418 over recording priority option 1420 and to useremote control navigation buttons to set the recording priority for arecording. The selection of save option 1402 may schedule the desiredrecording and related recording settings. In response to the selectionof cancel option 1416, the interactive television application may exitthe current display screen and return to a previous display screenwithout scheduling the PPV program to be recorded, or if desired, canceloption 1416 may cancel the scheduled recording of the PPV program. Othersuitable options may be provided. If desired, the application may allowa user to select a record option for a PPV program that already has arecording scheduled. In this case, the application may display a screensuch as display screen 1400 to allow the user to modify the recordingsettings or cancel the scheduled recording. Thus, PVR functionality maybe provided for PPV programs.

An interactive television application may be implemented to provide PVRfeatures for VOD programming. FIG. 26 shows illustrative process 1250that may be used in selecting and configuring a recording of VODprogram. At step 1252, the interactive television application maydisplay a VOD information display screen for example when a user selectsan information option for a particular VOD program from a listing screenor any other suitable location in which a user may indicate an interestin a VOD program. The interactive television application may providerelated program guide options at step 1254. Related program guideoptions may include last, order, remind, lock, and any other suitableprogram guide options. At step 1256, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select a recordoption, a remote control record button, or a record option from a livecontrol overlay to set and/or configure a VOD recording.

If the user chooses to record a VOD program, the interactive televisionapplication may require the user to order the VOD program beforescheduling a recording for that program. If desired, the interactivetelevision application may automatically order the VOD program when theuser selects to record the VOD program. In another embodiment, theinteractive television application may automatically display VOD orderscreens as part of the recording setup process. If desired, therecording may not be setup if the user does not complete an order for aVOD program.

If the user selects a record option for a VOD program, the interactivetelevision application may proceed to step 1258. At step 1258, VODrecord related options may be provided to the user. Step 1258 and mayinclude steps 1260, 1262, 1264, 1266, 1268, and 1270. At step 1262, theinteractive television application may propose a selection of times atwhich the VOD program may be recorded. The interactive televisionapplication may propose a time based on currently scheduled recordingsand reminders to avoid conflicts in recordings. The interactivetelevision application may propose a recording time and allow a user toscroll to other possible recording times. At step 1264, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to select arecording quality for the VOD program. At steps 1266 and 1268, theinteractive television application may respectively provide the userwith the ability to set a recording buffer time before and a recordingbuffer time after the scheduled recording time of a VOD program.Selecting a buffer time before or buffer time after for a recording of aVOD program may be beneficial for example in situations where theplayback of a VOD program extends beyond the specified duration for thatprogram. The playback of a VOD program may for example extend beyond aspecified duration when there are interruptions in the delivery of theVOD program. However, a recording buffer time before or after a VODprogram should not typically be necessary. At step 1260, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to select asave option to schedule the VOD program to be recorded and to save thesettings that have been selected by the user. The user may set arecording priority for the VOD program. A step for setting a recordingpriority such as step 651 of FIG. 6 may also be included in process 1250to allow a user to set a recording priority for a VOD program. Otheroptions from process 600 of FIG. 6 may also be included as appropriate.At step 1270, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to cancel and exit to a previous display screenwithout scheduling a recording.

If a VOD or PPV program is marked as copy-protected, the interactivetelevision application may restrict whether a user can schedule arecording for the copyrighted program. If desired, the interactivetelevision application may not automatically buffer live video of PPV orVOD programs that are copy-protected.

VOD and PPV programs may be priced to have different prices depending onthe usage. For example, one price may be for watching a program andanother price may be for recording a program. The price for recording aprogram may be displayed when the user selects to record a program. Ifdesired, VOD and PPV programs may be marked with three differentprices—the first two prices being the same type of prices as the twoprices described above and a third price that is for each playback of arecording. The interactive television application may also supportpay-per-recording and pay-per-playback of ordinary content. Theinteractive television application may also support a system in whichthe user pays for recording space by the amount of storage space used ona remote server (e.g., pay for the amount of storage in a remote serverthat stores personal video of a user).

FIG. 27 shows illustrative program information display screen 1280 for aVOD program that has not yet been scheduled to be recorded. Displayscreen 1280 may be displayed in response to a selection of a remotecontrol info button when, for example, listing bar 702 of display screen700 of FIG. 7 is positioned over a VOD program. With reference now toFIG. 27, display screen 1280 may include title display bar 1282. Displayscreen 1280 may include information on a VOD program that is listed indisplay bar 1282 and may include VOD program related program guideoptions.

Display screen 1280 may include record option 1284. In response to auser selecting record option 1284, the interactive televisionapplication may display VOD recording setup display screen 1350 as shownin FIG. 28.

With reference now to FIG. 28, VOD recording setup display screen 1350may include save option 1352, proposed recording times option 1362,quality option 1354, buffer time before option 1356, buffer time afteroption 1358, cancel recording option 1360, and recording priority 1366.These options may be provided based on illustrative steps 1260, 1262,1264, 1266, 1268, and 1270 shown in FIG. 26.

As mentioned above, buffer time before option 1356 and buffer time afteroption 1358 may not be necessary for recording VOD programs and may notbe selectable by the user.

The interactive television application may propose a recording time fora VOD program based on currently scheduled recordings and reminders. Theinteractive television application may also determine what recordingtimes are available to record the VOD program and may create a list ofproposed recording times.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 1364 over proposed recording timesoption 1362 and to use remote control navigation buttons to scrollthrough proposed times to select a recording time. The proposed timesmay include the current time in order to allow the user to immediatelyrecord the VOD program. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 1364 overquality option 1354 and to use remote control navigation buttons toscroll through recording quality settings to select the quality for arecording. The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to move highlight window 1364 over recording priorityoption 1366 and to use remote control navigation buttons to set therecording priority for a recording. The selection of save option 1352may schedule the desired recording based on the related recordingsettings that have been set by the user. In response to the selection ofcancel option 1360, the interactive television application may exit thecurrent display screen and return to a previous display screen withoutscheduling the VOD program to be recorded, or if desired, cancel option1360 may be used to cancel the scheduled recording of the VOD program.If desired, display screen 1350 may be shown if the user selects arecord option for a VOD program that already has a recording scheduled,in which case the application may allow the user to modify recordingsettings or cancel the scheduled recording.

While a VOD program is being recorded, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to only control theplayback of the VOD program locally using typical PVR flow controloptions. For example, the user may not be permitted to control playbackfrom a VOD server when the VOD program is being recorded. However, theuser may be permitted to control the playback of the VOD program throughthe user's local PVR. User playback control for a VOD program may beavailable up to the point in the VOD program that has been recorded bythe PVR.

A PVR may be used to record, play, or buffer television content. FIG. 29shows illustrative process 1500 that may be involved in using a PVR. Atstep 1520, the interactive television application may display a reminderoverlay for a scheduled recording that is displayed shortly before thescheduled recording. The recording may have been scheduled by the useror by the interactive television application. The reminder overlay mayinclude one or more options. The overlay may allow the user to cancelthe recording (if a series recording is configured this would onlycancel the recording of a single episode). The overlay may provide theuser with the ability hide the overlay so that the user may finishwatching the current program and start the recording at the scheduledtime. The overlay may allow the user to end viewing of the currentprogram and start recording the program immediately. The overlay mayallow the user to tune to the program but cancel the recording, whichallows the user to watch the program, but not save a copy. In responseto no activity by the user, the overlay may be removed after apredetermined amount of time and the interactive television applicationmay tune the channel airing the scheduled program, and recording maybegin. At step 1510, the interactive television application may start torecord a program and may display a starting to record overlay.

At step 1512, following step 1510, the interactive televisionapplication may display live video of a program that is being recordedand may monitor user activity to determine if the user has selected tocancel the recording. For example, the user may be permitted to selectto cancel a recording by pressing a remote control record button or bypressing a different remote control button to change the current channel(the channel that is be used for the recording) when the recording is inprogress. If the user does not select to cancel the recording, theinteractive television application may continue to step 1514. Otherwise,step 1516 may be performed when the user selects to cancel therecording. At step 1516, the interactive television application maydisplay a cancel recording overlay. If desired, the cancel recordingoverlay may provide the user with the ability to select to confirm thatthe recording should be canceled. If the user chooses not to cancel therecording, then the interactive television application may return tostep 1512. If the user chooses to cancel the recording, then theinteractive television application may continue to step 1518. During arecording, a user may select to pause, rewind, fast-forward, or takesome other playback control action without affecting the recording ofthe program. The user may fast-forward to the “live” point in theprogram, the time at which new content is currently being recorded. Ifdesired, the application may allow a user to watch a previously recordedprogram while a current program is being recorded.

The interactive television application may continue to step 1518following step 1514. At step 1514, the interactive televisionapplication may display a finished recording overlay, which may show amessage indicating that a recording is complete. The recording, whethercompleted or partly completed (e.g., partly completed because the usercanceled the recording), may be available to the user for playback forexample, from a recording listings display screen (see FIG. 36).

Live television programming may be buffered when a recording is canceledor completed. For example, a tuner that was being used for the recordingmay be used for buffering live television program on a PVR when therecording is canceled or completed. If desired, the system may usemultiple tuners to allow multiple programs to be recordedsimultaneously, or to allow a user to watch one program while one ormore programs are being recorded. At step 1518, the interactivetelevision application may display and buffer live full screen video.Also, at step 1518, the interactive television application may display alive control overlay when the user invokes the overlay. The live controloverlay may be invoked, for example, by pressing particular remotecontrol buttons such as a play button, a rewind button, a pause button,a fast-forward button, or a stop button. A dedicated button for invokingthe overlay may also be used. The live control overlay may includePVR-related task options such as play, pause, rewind, fast-forward,record, and other suitable task options. Options in the live controloverlay may be used to play, rewind, pause, or fast-forward livetelevision programming. The live control may be automatically removed ifleft unused for a certain period of time. The interactive televisionapplication may remain at step 1518 until a record option is selectedfor a live television program or until step 1520.

Step 1520 may be repeated to start process 1500 when the interactivetelevision application displays another remind/record overlay for ascheduled recording. Step 1510 may be repeated to start process 1500when for example a record option is selected when a user is watching alive television program.

If desired, a recording may be made without displaying any overlays. Forexample, a set-top box may be turned off when a recording is scheduledto begin. The application may tune to the selected program and beginrecording to local storage without turning on user equipment.Alternatively, a program may be recorded on a remote server without anyuser notification.

A starting to record overlay may be displayed when a PVR starts torecord a program. FIG. 30 shows illustrative starting to record overlay1602 that may be provided by the interactive television application.Overlay 1602 may be displayed by the interactive television applicationwhen the interactive television application starts to record a program(e.g. starts to record a program at step 1510 of FIG. 29). Overlay 1602may indicate that a current program is now being recorded. Overlay 1602may be displayed over video 1604 for the current program playing in thebackground. Overlay 1602 may be removed from view after a specifiedperiod of time or when the user selects a remote control exit button.The interactive television application may record the current programwithout including overlay 1602 as part of the recording. If desired,television programming may be recorded without including display screensand overlays as part of the recording.

A user may also be allowed to take other actions when a program is beingwatched and recorded without those interactions being reflected in therecording. For example, a user may be permitted to mute or change thevolume of a program that is being recorded without such changes beingincluded as part of the audio of the recorded program. A user may bepermitted to pause, rewind, or perform other program flow controloptions as a program is being recorded, without affecting the recordingof the program. A user may be allowed to watch a previously recordedprogram when a new program is being recorded, without affecting therecording of the new program.

FIG. 31 shows illustrative stop recording overlay 1702 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Overlay 1702 may bedisplayed over current video 1704 for a program in response to the userattempting to change a current channel while video 1704 is beingrecorded. Overlay 1702 may be an example of step 1516 of process 1500 ofFIG. 29. If desired, the application may allow the user to changechannels without affecting a recording that is in progress, if, forexample, the system includes multiple tuners or if the program is beingrecorded on a remote server.

Overlay 1702 may include “no” option 1706 and “yes” option 1708. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto use highlight window 1710 to select “no” option 1706 or “yes” option1708. In response to a selection of “no” option 1706, the interactivetelevision application may continue to record and display current video1704 for the current program. In response to a selection of “yes” option1708, the interactive television application may stop the recording andallow the user to change the channel. If there is no response to overlay1702, the interactive television application may remove overlay 1702 andcontinue the recording. If desired, a passive stop recording overlay orcancel recording overlay may be displayed when a user selects to cancela current recording.

FIG. 32 shows illustrative finished recording overlay 1804 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Overlay 1804 may bedisplayed when a scheduled recording is completed. Overlay 1804 mayinclude keep recording option 1806 and delete recording option 1808. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 1810 over keep recording option 1806 to selectthat option. A user may select option 1806 to remove overlay 1804 andkeep the recording of the program on the PVR. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to move highlightwindow 1810 over delete recording option 1808 to select that option(e.g., by pressing a remote control “OK” button). A user may selectoption 1808 to remove overlay 1804 and delete the recording of theprogram from the PVR. In response to inactivity by a user after aspecified period of time the interactive television application mayautomatically select to keep the recording and remove overlay 1804.Overlay 1804 may be displayed over current video 1802 for a particularprogram. If desired, overlay 1804 may not be displayed if, for example,a recording or reminder is scheduled immediately following the recordingthat just completed.

A PVR may be used to buffer live television program and to control theflow of live television programming (e.g., to pause a live program).FIG. 33 shows illustrative live control overlay 1904 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Overlay 1904 may bedisplayed when a user invokes program flow control options, for example,by pressing a particular remote control button such as a pause button, arewind button, a dedicated button for invoking the overlay, or anothersuitable remote control button. Overlay 1904 may include options forcontrolling the flow of a live television program. Overlay 1904 may beprovided based on step 1518 of process 1500 of FIG. 29. Overlay 1904 maybe displayed over current video 1902 for a particular program. Overlay1904 may include selectable advertisement 1906, rewind option 1908, playoption 1910, record option 1912, pause option 1914, program title 1916,and fast-forward option 1918.

In response to a user selecting rewind option 1908, the interactivetelevision application may display buffered video 1902 that isrewinding. In response to the selection of pause option 1914, theinteractive television application may display buffered video 1902 ofthe current program that is paused. In response to the selection of playoption 1910, buffered video 1902 may resume playing at normal speed.Overlay 1904 may also provide an option to advance video 1902frame-by-frame (e.g., by repeatedly selecting pause option 1914). Inresponse to the selection of fast-forward option 1918, the interactivetelevision application may display buffered video 1902 of the currentprogram in fast-forward. In response to the selection of record option1912, the interactive television application may record the currentprogram. Rewind option 1908 and fast-forward option 1918 may be used tofast-forward and rewind a program at different speeds. The range ofdifferent speeds may include a range from different slow motion speedsto different fast-forward speeds. Switching between different speeds maybe performed through successive selections of the same option (e.g.,successive selections of fast-forward option 1908 or successiveselections of rewind option 1908). To stop recording a current programor to stop playback of a recording, the interactive televisionapplication may require the user to press a remote control stop buttononce or more than once to confirm the desired action. Stopping a PVRfrom recording may cancel that scheduled recording. If desired, a stopoption may be displayed in overlay 1904 when appropriate.

A remote control stop button may further function in the same way as apause option when a user is watching live television (i.e., livetelevision of a program that is not being recorded is being buffered.)

Techniques for buffering and recording programs are further discussedbelow. Overlay 1904 may also be displayed to allow a user to control theflow of a recording that is playing from a PVR. Overlay 1904 may bedisplayed without including record option 1912 when overlay 1904 isbeing used to control a recording. See for example FIG. 39.

FIG. 34 shows illustrative recording reminder overlay 2004 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Overlay 2004 may beprovided based on step 1520 of process 1500 of FIG. 29. Overlay 2004 maybe displayed over current video 2002 for a particular program. Overlay2004 may include reminder tab 2008, reminder information 2010, recordoption 2012, hide option 2014, cancel option 2016, and watch and canceloption 2018.

Overlay 2004 may be displayed at a specified period of time before ascheduled recording. The specified period of time may be fixed by theapplication, may be defined by a user in a setup screen, or may beconfigured by the user for an individual recording when that recordingis scheduled. Reminder tab 2008 may include a list of other remindersfor scheduled recordings. In response to a selection of record option2012 the interactive television application may end viewing of thecurrent program and may start to record the scheduled recordingimmediately. The interactive television application may dismiss reminderoverlay 2004 and maintain the recording at the scheduled time inresponse to a selection of hide option 2014. If desired, after hidingreminder overlay 2004 using hide option 2014, a user may press a remotecontrol button to cause the application to redisplay reminder overlay2004. The interactive television application may cancel the recording inresponse to a selection of cancel option 2016. In response to aselection of watch and cancel option 2018 the interactive televisionapplication may tune to the program but cancel the recording, allowingthe user to watch the program, but not save a copy. In response to noactivity by the user, overlay 2004 may be automatically removed and theinteractive television application may tune the channel for thescheduled recording and begin recording. Once a recording that isscheduled starts, starting to record overlay 1602 of FIG. 30 may bedisplayed to indicate that the program is being recorded.

The interactive television application may display a particular programinformation display screen for programs that are available for playbackfrom a PVR. FIG. 35 shows illustrative process 2100 that may be used indisplaying a PVR recording information display screen. At step 2110, theinteractive television application may display a PVR recording listingsdisplay screen and provide a user with the ability to select to play arecording that is listed in the listings display screen or select aninformation option for a particular listing. If desired, the user mayselect to play a recording or view information about a recorded programfrom any location in which the program is listed such as a program typelistings display screen, a search listings display screen, a by timelistings display screen, a by channel listings display screen, a browseoverlay, a flip overlay, or any other suitable screen. If the userselects to play a recording for example by pressing a remote control“OK” button or a remote control play button, the interactive televisionapplication may proceed to step 2136. If the user selects an informationoption for a recording, the interactive television application mayproceed to step 2120.

At step 2120, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to view information on a particular recording. Atstep 2122, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to return to the last screen that was displayed. Atstep 2124, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to play a recording (e.g., a recorded program). If theuser selects to play the recording, the interactive televisionapplication may play the recording at step 2136. If desired, there maybe multiple play options, for example to resume playing from the mostrecent point at which playing ended, or to restart playing from thebeginning of the recorded program. At step 2125, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to delete aPVR recording. At step 2126, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to edit delete priority settings for arecording. If the user selects to edit delete priority settings, theinteractive television application may proceed to step 2132. At step2132, the interactive television application may display a deletepriority display screen for configuring delete priority settings for aPVR recording.

At step 2128, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to modify access privileges to a recording (e.g.,lock a recording). At step 2130, a user may be provided with anopportunity to select to have a recording copied to a VCR or otherexternal recording device. The interactive television application maydisplay a VCR setup display screen at step 2134 when a user selects tocopy a PVR recording to a VCR. If desired, at step 2134, the interactivetelevision application may copy a PVR recording to a VCR based on userselections in a VCR setup display screen. At step 2135, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to modifyseries recordings settings if the PVR recording is part of an activeseries recording. If the PVR recording was not recorded as part of aseries recording or is not part of a currently active series recording,the interactive television application may allow a user to schedule anew recording or new series recordings based on the PVR recording. Arecorded program information display screen may also include a previewoption. Selecting this option may display a partial-screen scaled videoversion of the program that is embedded in the program informationdisplay screen.

At step 2136, the interactive television application may display fullscreen video of a recording that a user has selected to play. A PVRcontrol overlay may also be displayed that includes PVR playback-relatedtask options.

FIG. 36 shows illustrative PVR recording listings display screen 2200that may be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 2200 may be displayed in response to a selection of recordingsoption 518 in display screen 500 of FIG. 5. Display screen 2200 mayinclude program titles within listing bars such as listing bar 2202.Display screen 2200 may include delete icon 2206 in a listing barindicating that the program related to delete icon 2206 may be deletedin the amount of time specified in icon 2206. Delete icon 2206 mayappear in display screen 2200 or in any other suitable display screen oroverlay. If desired, listing bar 2202 may explicitly include a recordedcontent icon (e.g., recorded content icon 704 of FIG. 7) that mayexplicitly indicate that a PVR recording is associated with the programlisted in listing bar 2202.

A user may select to play a recording by moving highlight window 2212over listing bar 2202 and pressing a remote control “OK” button orremote control play button. The interactive television application mayplay the recorded program from the beginning or from a current playbacklocation, if desired. In response to the selection of a remote control“OK” button or a remote control play button, the interactive televisionapplication may display a PVR playback video overlay. See for exampleFIG. 39.

In response to a user moving highlight window 2212 over a particularlisting of a recording and pressing a remote control info button, theinteractive television application may display a recording informationdisplay screen.

A recording, such as the recording in listing bar 2202, may have beenautomatically recorded as part of a series recording or as a keywordrecording. If a particular recording has been scheduled for recording byboth a series recording and a keyword recording, the interactivetelevision application may only save one copy of the recording.

Recordings on this screen may be sorted based on any suitable criteria.This may include, for example, alphabetical, by recording date, byrecording priority, by delete priority, by viewing status, whetherrecorded automatically or as specified by a user, or any other criteriaor combination of criteria.

FIG. 37 shows illustrative recorded program information display screen2300 that may be provided by the interactive television application.Display screen 2300 may include title display bar 2306 that may containrecorded content icon 2312. Recorded content icon 2312 may indicate thata PVR recording is available for the program that is identified in titledisplay bar 2306. Playback counter 2314 may indicate up to what positionin the program a user has viewed.

Display screen 2300 may include play option 2326, delete option 2328,delete priority option 2330, to VCR option 2334, series setup option2336, and times option 2338. These options may have been provided basedon illustrative steps 2124, 2125, 2126, 2130, and 2135, shown in FIG.35. In response to a selection of play option 2326, the interactivetelevision application may play a recording of the program that isidentified in title display bar 2306. If desired, there may be more thanone play option to allow a user to play a recording from the beginningof the recorded program or to play the recording from the position ofplayback counter 2314. In response to a selection of delete option 2328,the interactive television application may delete the recording of theprogram and/or delete information about that particular recording. Inresponse to a selection of delete priority option 2330, the interactivetelevision application may display a delete priority display screen andmay provide the user with options for configuring delete prioritysettings.

In response to a selection of to VCR option 2334, the interactivetelevision application may display a to VCR setup display screen and mayallow the user to transfer the recorded program from the PVR to a VCR orother devices. A to VCR setup display screen may provide a user withoptions for configuring the transfer of the recorded program from thePVR to a VCR. In response to a selection of series setup option 2336,the interactive television application may display a series setupdisplay screen, such as that shown in FIG. 10. A series setup displayscreen may provide the user with the ability to modify recordingsettings for an active series recording corresponding to the selectedprogram or create a new series recording if one does not exist for theselected program. In response to a selection of times option 2338, theinteractive television application may display a list of otherrecordings of that program and list upcoming episodes of that program.Examples of interactive television program guides with interactiveinformation display screens are illustratively shown in Rudnick et al.U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,268, filed Jul. 16, 1999, whichis mentioned above.

Display screen 2300 may include preview option 2340. In response to aselection of preview button 2340, the interactive television applicationmay play scaled video of the recorded program in video window 2342. Ifdesired, the application may display a control panel with control keysto stop, fast-forward, pause, rewind, etc., or the user may control thevideo using keys on the remote control. The control panel may displayedin or over display screen 2300. If desired, a current program that wasplaying in video window 2342 may be automatically paused when therecorded program is being previewed.

An interactive television application may automatically delete programsto manage storage space. Delete priority settings may be used to managewhich recordings are deleted by an interactive television application.FIG. 38 shows illustrative program delete priority setup display screen930 that may be provided by the interactive television application.Display screen 930 may provide the user with the ability to set deletepriority settings for a program. Display screen 930 may be displayed inresponse to a user selecting delete priority option 2330 of FIG. 37.Display screen 930 may include delete preferences option 932 and editdelete order option 942.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select a delete preference for a recording using deletepreferences option 932. A user may scroll through different deletepreference setting using option 932. A delete preference setting thatmay be set for a recording may include a setting to never delete, asetting to make a recording a preferred recording, a setting to delete arecording when space is needed, a setting to delete the program after ithas been viewed, or other settings. If a never delete setting isselected, the interactive television application may delete a recordingonly when a user specifically requests that recording to be deleted. Ifa preferred recording setting is selected, the interactive televisionapplication may delete recordings that do not have preferred recordingsettings before deleting recordings that have preferred recordingsettings. If a delete a recording when space is needed setting isselected, the interactive television application may delete the programwhen space to record a program is needed. If desired, the interactivetelevision application may first check the priority of recordings andthen the age of the recording to determine which programs to delete. Ifdesired, a program may have two delete priorities, one that is usedbefore the program has been viewed and one that is used after theprogram has been viewed.

Delete program on date option 934 may be made available to a user when adelete preference other than a never delete setting has been selectedfor the current program. Delete program on date option 934 may includedelete on month option 936, delete on day option 938, and delete on yearoption 940. The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to move highlight window 942 over delete on monthoption 936, delete on day option 938, and delete on year option 940 andrespectively scroll through month, day, and year to select the date todelete the program. When a user selects edit delete order option 944,the interactive television application may display a list that shows theorder in which currently stored recordings may be deleted. See forexample display screen 3600 of FIG. 53.

FIG. 39 shows illustrative PVR playback video overlay 2404 displayedover video 2402 of a program that the interactive television applicationis playing from a recording on a PVR. Overlay 2404 may be an example ofstep 2136 of process 2100 of FIG. 35.

Overlay 2404 may be used to control the flow of video 2402. Overlay 2404may include rewind option 2408, play option 2410, fast-forward option2412, pause option 2414, stop option 2416, program title 2418, andplayback time 2420. Playback time 2420 may inform the user of the lengthof the recording and inform the user how much video 2402 has beenviewed. Playback video overlay 2404 and the flow control optionscontained therein are similar to live controls overlay 1904 of FIG. 33and options contained therein. Stop option 2416 may function in the sameway as a pause option while watching live television that is not beingrecorded. If a recording has been scheduled and is being recorded, stopoption 2416 may function to cancel the scheduled recording.

If desired, the interactive television application may also allow theuser to skip video 2402 forward or back a specified period of time in arecording or buffered television program by pressing particular remotecontrol buttons such as page up or down buttons that are typicallyincluded in remote controls.

If during the playback of video 2402, a user attempts to change thechannel, an overlay with a message may appear. FIG. 40 showsillustrative message overlay 952 displayed over video 950 of a programthat the interactive television application may be playing from arecording on a PVR. Overlay 952 may include an “OK” option 954 forselecting to remove overlay 952. Overlay 952 may also be removedautomatically by the interactive television application after aspecified period of time. The message within overlay 952 indicates thatthe user should press a remote control stop button to cancel theplayback of the video so that the user can change the channel. Ifdesired, video 950 may be automatically paused when the user decides towatch another recorded program or change to live television. Video 950may be paused to be resumed at a later time without including an overlayin video 950.

FIG. 41 shows illustrative process 960 that includes steps that may beinvolved in accessing interactive television application options whilewatching a recording. At step 962, the interactive televisionapplication may play a recorded program. At step 964, the interactivetelevision application may provide program guide functions, such asbrowse, menu, guide, or other options while a user is watching arecording. For example, the interactive television application mayprovide a user with the ability to press a remote control menu buttonwhen video for a recorded program is playing in order to view a mainmenu display screen. If desired, the interactive television applicationmay automatically pause the playback of the recording when a useraccesses a main menu display screen or when other display screens oroverlays are displayed.

A user may be permitted to access or modify settings for recordingprograms that have been scheduled to be recorded. FIG. 42 showsillustrative process 2500 that shows illustrative steps that may beinvolved in displaying information display screens for programs that arescheduled to be recorded. Step 2502 shows illustrative steps involved inproviding a user with the ability to perform a task with respect to alisting in a scheduled recordings display screen.

At step 2514, the interactive television application may display ascheduled recordings display screen or other graphic that includes alisting such as a browse overlay, a by time listings display screen, aby channel listings display screen, a by type listings display screen,or a search listings display screen. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to view information ona listing by selecting an information option for a listing. At step2514, the interactive television application may also allow the user tocancel a scheduled recording of a program by pressing a remote controlrecord button in connection with a listing of that program. In response,a recording canceled overlay may be displayed at step 2522. If desired,pressing a record button may convert a one-time recording to a seriesrecording with default settings if the program is an episode in aseries. An overlay may be displayed to inform the user of theconversion.

If the user selects an information option, for example by using a remotecontrol “OK” button or a remote control info button, the interactivetelevision application may display an information display screen for aprogram that is scheduled to be recorded.

If an information option is selected for a program that is a PPV or VODprogram, the interactive television application may determine at step2528 if that program is currently being recorded. If the program is aPPV or VOD program, which is currently being recorded, the interactivetelevision application may proceed to step 2510. A VOD program that isscheduled to be recorded may be currently recording because a user mayhave scheduled the recording for the VOD program to be at the currenttime. If the program is a PPV or VOD program, which is not currentlybeing recorded, the interactive television application may proceed tostep 2508. If the program is not a PPV or VOD program, the interactivetelevision application may proceed to step 2506.

Step 2510 may be performed for a PPV or VOD′ program when the PPV or VODprogram is being recorded. Step 2510 may include steps 2530, 2532, 2536,and 2540 for providing a scheduled program information display screenfor a PPV or VOD program that is currently being recorded. At step 2530,the interactive television application may display a scheduled programinformation display screen. The interactive television application mayprovide related program guide options at step 2532. Related programguide options may include last, watch, lock, and other suitable programguide options. At step 2536, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to select stop recording option. Inresponse to the selection of stop recording button, the interactivetelevision application may stop recording the PPV or VOD program anddisplay a stop recording overlay at step 2540.

Step 2508 may include steps 2542, 2544, 2546, 2550, and 2554 forproviding a scheduled program information display screen for a PPV orVOD program that is not currently being recorded. At step 2542, ascheduled program information display screen for a PPV or VOD programthat is not currently being recorded may be displayed. The interactivetelevision application may provide related program guide options at step2544. Related program guide options may include last, lock, and anyother suitable program guide options. At step 2546, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to select acancel order option. In response to the selection of a cancel orderoption, the interactive television application may exit the currentscheduled program display screen and may display a recording canceledoverlay at step 2554. If desired, an order for a PPV or VOD program maybe automatically canceled when a user selects to cancel a scheduled PPVor VOD recording at step 2546. At step 2550, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select to editrecording settings.

Step 2506 may include steps 2572, 2574, 2578, 2580, 2582, 2586, 2588,and 2590 for providing a program information display screen for anon-PPV and non-VOD program that is scheduled to be recorded.

At step 2572, a scheduled program information display screen for thenon-PPV and non-VOD program may be displayed. The interactive televisionapplication may provide related program guide options at step 2574.Related program guide options may include last, watch (if the program iscurrently on), lock, and other suitable program guide options. At step2578, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to select a stop recording option. In response to theselection of a stop recording option, the interactive televisionapplication may determine if the scheduled recording is currently beingrecorded at step 2586. If the program is being recorded, the interactivetelevision application may display an overlay to request whether theuser wants to stop recording the program at step 2588. If the program isnot currently being recorded, the interactive television application maycancel the scheduled recording and display a recording canceled overlayat step 2590. At step 2580, a user may be provided with an opportunityto select and configure a series recording. At step 2582, a user may beprovided with an opportunity to edit recording settings that will beused for the scheduled recording. Step 2582 may be the same as step 606of process 600.

An interactive television application may display a list of scheduledrecordings in a scheduled recording listings display screen. FIG. 43shows illustrative scheduled recording listings display screen 2600 thatmay be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 2600 may be displayed in response to the selection of scheduledrecordings option 524 in display screen 500 of FIG. 5. Display screen2600 may be an example of step 2514 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.

Display screen 2600 may include listing bars such as listing bar 2602and date bars such as date bar 2604. Display screen 2600 may display alist of the titles of programs scheduled for recording. Display screen2600 may list scheduled programs based on their scheduled start timeswith date bar 2604 separating programs that are scheduled on differentdays. Display screen 2600 may be used to list each program that iscurrently scheduled to be recorded. The list may include one-timerecordings as well as recordings that are part of a series recording.Multiple listing bars may be included for series recordings. If desired,episodes for programs that are scheduled to have reminders may also belisted in display screen 2600.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 2610 over listing bar 2602 and select aremote control info button, a remote control “OK” button, a remotecontrol record button, or any other suitable remote control button inorder to modify the recording/reminder settings for the program. Displayscreen 2600 may include delete episode option 2606, delete all episodesoption 2608, and see other scheduled recordings option 2612. A user maybe permitted to scroll through scheduled recordings listings usingremote control up and down navigation keys and permitted to move betweenthe listings and options 2606, 2608, and 2612 using remote control rightand left navigation keys. For example, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to move highlightwindow 2610 over listing bar 2602 and to mark that listing by pressing apredetermined remote control button. Remote control right/leftnavigation keys may then be used to move highlight window 2610 overdelete episode option 2606. The marked listing may then be removed fromdisplay screen 2600 and the scheduled recording for that listing may becanceled by pressing a remote control “OK” button. A delete episodefunction may also be available for example by pressing a remote controlrecord key to convert a one-time recording to a series recording andthen by pressing a remote control record key again to delete a scheduledrecording. A delete episode or delete series recording option may alsobe available from a program information display screen. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 2610 over delete all episodes option 2608 (e.g., usingright/left arrow buttons) to delete all scheduled episodes by pressingremote control “OK” button.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 2610 over see other scheduledrecordings option 2612 (e.g., using remote control right/left navigationkeys). In response to a user selecting see other scheduled recordingsoption 2612 in connection with a marked listing, the interactivetelevision application may display a list of other scheduled recordingsthat match the program name in the marked listing. The list of otherrecordings may include series recordings, keyword-based recordings, orrecordings defined using time and channel on an on-going basis. A listof episodes in a series may also be available from the see all episodesoption 1008 of series recording setup display screen of FIG. 10.

If a scheduled recording is a VOD program, display screen 2600 maydisplay a listing for the VOD program in the scheduled recordings listin the same manner as a regularly scheduled program with an associatedtime and day that the VOD program is to be recorded. Display screen 2600may provide the user with the ability to select a scheduled VODrecording. In response to a selection of a scheduled VOD recording, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto view program information and to edit recording information using adisplay screen such as that shown in FIG. 28.

FIG. 44 shows illustrative information display screen 2700 for a PPVprogram that is currently being recorded. Display screen 2700 may bedisplayed in response to a user pressing a remote control info button ora remote control “OK” button for a PPV listing in FIG. 43 or on anyother screen from which the PPV program may be accessed. Display screen2700 may be provided based on step 2510 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.

Display screen 2700 may include stop recording option 2730 that may beprovided based on step 2536 shown in FIG. 42. In response to a userselecting stop recording option 2730, the interactive televisionapplication may show stop recording overlay 1702 of FIG. 31.

FIG. 45 shows illustrative information display screen 2800 for a PPVprogram that is not currently being recorded. Display screen 2800 may bedisplayed in response to a user pressing a remote control info button ora remote control “OK” button for a listing of a PPV program that isscheduled to be recorded, but is not yet airing. Display screen 2800 maybe provided based on step 2508 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.

Display screen 2800 may include cancel recording option 2828, cancelorder option 2830, and edit option 2832 that may be provided based onsteps 2546 and 2550 shown in FIG. 42. In response to a selection ofcancel recording option 2828, the interactive television application mayshow cancel recording overlay 3110 of FIG. 48. In response to aselection of cancel order option 2830, the interactive televisionapplication may cancel the PPV order. If desired, the canceling of a PPVorder may also cancel the recording. Edit option 2832 may be used toaccess a display screen to allow a user to modify a recording that isalready scheduled.

In response to a selection of edit option 2832, the interactivetelevision application may display PPV recording setup display screen2900 of FIG. 46. FIG. 46 shows illustrative modify PPV recording setupdisplay screen 2900 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 2900 may provide the user with the abilityto edit recording options for a particular scheduled recording. Displayscreen 2900 may include save option 2910, time option 2912, qualityoption 2916, buffer time before option 2916, buffer time after option2918, and cancel option 2920. Change time option 2912 may allow the userto select a different airing of the PPV program to be used for thescheduled recording. These options may have been provided based onillustrative steps 1232, 1234, 1236, 1238, 1240, and 1242 shown in FIG.23. Save option 2910 may be selected to save the new settings that areselected by the user. If the changes that were selected by a userincluded changing the time of the PPV program, the selection of saveoption 2910 may cause the recording to be scheduled for that new timeand may cause the PPV program that is airing at that new time to beordered. Options 2912, 2914, 2916, 2918, and 2920 may operate in thesame way as options 1410, 1404, 1412, 1414, and 1416 of FIG. 25,respectively. If desired, display screen 1400 of FIG. 25 may be showninstead of display screen 2900.

Illustrative display screens and options that have described inconnection with PPV programs such as display screen 2900 of FIG. 46 maybe used for VOD programs.

FIG. 47 shows illustrative scheduled recording program informationdisplay screen 3000 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 3000 may be displayed in response to a userpressing a remote control info button for a listing in FIG. 43 (or onany other screen from which the program may be accessed) of a scheduledrecording of a non-PPV and non-VOD program. Display screen 3000 may beprovided based on step 2572 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.

Stop recording option 3030, setup option 3032, and series option 3028may be provided based on illustrative steps 2578, 2582, and 2580 shownin FIG. 42. In response to the selection of stop recording option 3030,the interactive television application may display a stop recordingoverlay if the program is currently being recorded. The stop recordingoverlay may request whether a user wants to stop the recording of theprogram. In response to a selection of setup option 3032, theinteractive television application may display program recording displayscreen 900 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 48 shows illustrative cancel recording overlay 3110 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Overlay 3110 may bedisplayed when a user selects to cancel a scheduled recording. Recordingcanceled overlay 3110 may appear over display screen 3100.

FIG. 49 shows illustrative live controls overlay 3204 displayed over avideo of a program that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Overlay 3204 may be displayed while buffered video 3202 fora program is playing in the background. As in live control overlay 1904of FIG. 19, overlay 3204 may also include rewind option 3208, playoption 3210, record option 3212, pause option 3214, fast-forward option3222, and program title 3216. Overlay 3204 may further include live TVoption 3218 and time behind live TV indicator 3220.

Time behind live TV indicator 3220 may indicate how far back bufferedvideo 3202 is behind live television. The interactive televisionapplication may allow the user to select live TV option 3218 to returnthe user to watching live video that is currently airing.

The interactive television application may allow the user to set thesize of the buffer for pausing live television in size of live TV bufferoption 570 of FIG. 18. If desired, the application may allow the user toset different buffer sizes and record qualities for different channels,channel types, and program types. FIG. 50 shows illustrative livecontrols overlay 3304 with pause time left indicator 3306 displayed overa paused video of a program that may be provided by the interactivetelevision application. Overlay 3304 may be displayed over paused video3302 for a current program. Overlay 3304 may include pause time leftindicator 3306 which may indicate how much time is left in the bufferfor pausing live television. If desired, pause time left indicator 3306may not be displayed if the size of the buffer is large enough to holdthe entire remainder of the current program.

A user may be permitted to set delete priority settings for recordingsin general. For example, with reference now to FIG. 51, illustrativedelete priority setup display screen 3400 may be displayed by aninteractive television application to allow a user to select deletepriority settings. Display screen 3400 may be displayed when a userselects delete priority option 526 of main menu display screen 500 ofFIG. 5. Alternatively, display screen 3400 may be accessible from PVRSetup screen 540 of FIG. 18. Display screen 3400 may provide the userwith the ability to set various delete priority settings. Display screen3400 may include edit one-time recording delete priority option 3402,edit series recording delete priority option 3404, delete by programtype option 3406, delete by broadcast type option 3408, delete bychannel option 3409, recording expiration option 3410, and delete afterviewed option 3414.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select edit one-time recording delete priority option 3402.In response to such a selection, the interactive television applicationmay display a one-time recording delete priority order display screen(see FIG. 53). A one-time recording delete priority display screen mayallow a user to change the order in which individual recordings will bedeleted.

Managing delete priority settings for individual recordings that arepart of a series recording may be time consuming. A series recordingdelete priority order display screen (see FIG. 52) may be used to speedthe process for setting delete priority for series recordings. A seriesrecording delete priority order display screen may be displayed inresponse to a selection of edit series recording delete priority option3404.

Other types of parameters may also be used to set delete prioritysettings. If the user selects program type delete by option 3406, theinteractive television application may display a delete by program typedisplay screen (see FIG. 54). If the user selects delete by broadcasttype option 3408, the interactive television application may display adelete by broadcast type display screen (see FIG. 55A). If the userselects delete by channel option 3409, the interactive televisionapplication may display a delete by channel display screen (see FIG.55B).

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 3416 over recording expiration option3410, and the ability to use remote control navigation buttons to selectthe length of time that a recording will be stored on the PVR. Thesettings for this option may include never delete, one week, two weeks,or any other suitable duration.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to move highlight window 3416 over delete after viewed option3414 and to use remote control navigation buttons to select to haverecordings deleted after they have been viewed. Selecting this optionmay cause recordings to be deleted immediately after being viewed.Alternatively, it may cause the priority of the viewed program to bereduced so that it may be deleted in preference to a program that hasnot yet been viewed.

FIG. 52 shows illustrative series recordings delete priority displayscreen 3500 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 3500 may be displayed in response to aselection of series recording delete priority option 3404 of FIG. 51.Other means for reaching display screen 3500 may also be implemented.With reference now to FIG. 52, display screen 3500 may display listingbars for recordings such as listing bar 3502 that are displayed in thepriority order that recordings in one series are given over recordingsin another series. One listing bar may be displayed for each scheduledseries recording. If desired, keyword-based recordings may also beincluded on this screen. Display screen 3500 may include move up option3508 and move down option 3510. The interactive television applicationmay allow the user to use move up option 3508 or move down option 3510to change the delete priority for a series. The delete priority order indisplay screen 3500 may be used by the interactive televisionapplication to determine the priority of individual series recordingswith respect to all recordings.

In FIGS. 52-55B, a user may be permitted to switch between listings andmove up/down options using remote control right/left navigation keys.For example, when a user has positioned a highlight window over adesired listing, the user may press right/left navigations keys toaccess move up or move down options, which may be selected by the userby, for example, pressing a remote control “OK” key. The listing fromwhich move up or move down options are accessed may be moved up or downin priority in a delete priority list when a user selects move up ordown options.

Screens similar to those shown in FIGS. 52-55B may be used to setrelative default recording priorities for series, individual programs,program types, and channel types. If desired, recording priorities maybe converted to delete priorities after a program has been recorded.

FIG. 53 shows illustrative one-time recording delete priority displayscreen 3600 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 3600 may be displayed in response to aselection of edit one-time recording delete priority option 3402 of FIG.51. With reference now to FIG. 53, display screen 3600 may displaylisting bars, such as listing bar 3602, which are displayed in the orderthat will be used to delete recordings. The delete order for therecordings may have been determined based on delete priority settingsthat a user selected for specific programs (e.g., never delete,preferred recording, etc.) or based on delete priority settings that auser selected for recordings in general (e.g., delete priority forseries recordings, delete priority by program type, delete priority bybroadcast type, etc.). This screen may include a listing bar for eachscheduled one-time recording. Display screen 3600 may include move upoption 3606 and move down option 3608. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to use move up option3606 or move down option 3608 to change the order in which listedrecordings will be deleted. By moving the position of a recording up ordown, the user manually changes the delete priority of that recordingwith respect to the other recordings.

FIG. 54 shows illustrative delete priority by program type displayscreen 3700 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 3700 may be displayed in response to aselection of delete by program type option 3406 of FIG. 51. Withreference now to FIG. 54, display screen 3700 may display listing barssuch as listing bar 3702. The order of the listing bars shows thepriority that the interactive television application will give todifferent types of programs when the interactive television applicationselects programs to delete. Program types may include sports, movies,children, adult, sitcom, or other suitable program types. A listing barmay be included for each program type supported by the application.Display screen 3700 may include move up option 3706 and move down option3708. The interactive television application may allow a user to selectmove up option 3706 or move down option 3708 to change the deletepriority order of the program types. The interactive televisionapplication may use this delete priority order in specifying the orderin which individual recordings will be deleted.

FIG. 55A shows illustrative delete priority by broadcast type displayscreen 3800 that may be provided by the interactive televisionapplication. Display screen 3800 may be displayed in response to aselection of delete by broadcast type option 3408 of FIG. 51. Withreference now to FIG. 55A, display screen 3800 may display listing bars,such as listing bar 3802, that list the delete priority that will begiven to recordings based on the broadcast type that was used for therecording. Types of broadcasts may include PPV, VOD, broadcast, cable,local access, and other suitable broadcast types. Display screen 3800may include move up option 3806 and move down option 3808 that may beused to change the delete priority that is associated with broadcasttypes. This delete priority order may also be used in selecting theorder in which individual recordings will be deleted.

FIG. 55B shows illustrative delete priority by channel display screen3810 that may be provided by the interactive television application.Display screen 3810 may be displayed in response to a selection ofdelete by channel option 3409 of FIG. 51. With reference now to FIG.55B, display screen 3810 may display listing bars, such as listing bar3812, that list the delete priority that will be given to recordingsbased on the channel on which a program was recorded. Display screen3800 may include move up option 3816 and move down option 3818 that maybe used to change the delete priority of the channels. This deletepriority order may also be used in selecting the order in whichindividual recordings will be deleted.

An interactive television application may be implemented to pushtelevision advertisements and other content to be locally stored anddisplayed. FIG. 56 shows illustrative process 9500 involved in pushingtelevision advertisements and other content to user equipment. Aninteractive television application may store a limited amount of programlisting information or other information on a set-top box and/or a PVR.With reference now to FIG. 56, at step 9502 the interactive televisionapplication may determine during which hours of the day a user typicallydoes not watch television. This may be performed by asking the user tospecify time periods that the user does not typically watch televisionor by monitoring when a user watches television. At step 9504, theinteractive television application may push video advertisements (e.g.,short video advertisements) and other video content (such as editorialcontent) to a user's set-top box. The advertisements and other contentmay be based on user-specified or automatically generated profileinformation. The transfer of content may be performed during a timeperiod in which a user typically does not watch television. Inconfigurations in which multiple tuners are provided for user equipment,video content may be pushed when the equipment is not using all of thetuners.

If a user chooses to watch television during a time period in which theinteractive television application is pushing content to user equipment,the interactive television application may proceed to step 9506. At step9506, the interactive television application may cancel pushing contentto the local equipment of the user. The interactive televisionapplication may then attempt to resume pushing content during anothertime period that the user does not typically watch television or mayattempt to resume again during the same time period the following day.If desired, content that is fully or partially downloaded before theinteractive television application cancels pushing content may beretained until the next attempt. After the advertisements and othercontent have been transferred to the local equipment of a user, the usermay access these interactive advertisements from practically anylocation in the interactive television application at step 9508.

FIG. 57 shows illustrative online scheduled recordings program guidewindow 9530 that may be provided by an interactive televisionapplication. Examples of online program guide systems are illustrativelydescribed in Boyer et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/938,028,filed Sep. 18, 1997, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. Window 9530 may be an online program guide window foraccessing information relating to scheduled events and other systeminformation for a user's PVR. If desired, an online program guide mayprovide the same functionality through the Internet as is illustrativelydescribed herein primarily in the context of cable television basedprogram guides.

Online scheduled recordings program guide window 9530 may provide theuser with the ability to have online access to that user's scheduledrecordings. Window 9530 may include menu bar 9532 which may contain amenu of features available from the online program guide. Menu bar 9532may have similar functionality to main menu display screen 500 of FIG.5.

Window 9530 may also have all the same functionality as scheduledrecordings display screen 2600 of FIG. 43. Online program guide window9530 may include date region 9534, program listings 9536, and checkbox9538. There may be one checkbox for each scheduled recording that islisted in window 9530. The online program guide may also include optionbuttons 9550, such as info button 9540, record button 9542, seriesbutton 9544, delete episode button 9546, and delete all episodes button9548. Option buttons 9550 may perform the same functionality as remotecontrol buttons or options that are available for listings in ascheduled recordings display screen such as scheduled recordings displayscreen 2600 of FIG. 43. The online program guide may provide the userwith the ability to select a checkbox for a scheduled recording such ascheckbox 9538 and to select an option button in option buttons 9550 toperform a particular function. The online guide may allow a user toselect only one scheduled recording at a time to allow the selection ofoption buttons 9550 to be only for the currently selected scheduledrecordings.

The online program guide may record a program to a server and providethe user with the ability to select to view the program after it hasbeen recorded through the online program guide. The online program guidemay provide the user with the ability to tune to a program through atuner card in a personal computer. The online program guide may furtherprovide the user with the ability to store the program on a hard diskconnected to the personal computer. The online program guide may sendinstructions to user equipment, such as a set-top box or personal videorecorder, to record a program. The online program guide may sendprograms recorded on a server or on a personal computer to userequipment, such as a set-top box or personal video recorder. Examples ofinteractive program guides that have remote access are illustrativelydescribed in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/354,344,filed Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

FIG. 58 shows illustrative process 9552 that, may be used to provide theuser with the ability to edit saved programs. Examples of these andother options are illustratively shown in Rudnick et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17, 1998, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. At step 9554, theinteractive television application may display an edit stored programdisplay screen, for example, when a user selects a remote control editbutton or an on-screen edit option in connection with a recording. Therecording may be selected to be edited from practically any location inthe interactive television application.

At step 9556, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to remove commercials from a recording. At step9558, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to combine a selected recording with other recordings. Ifthe user selects to combine recordings, the interactive televisionapplication may display a combine with other recordings display screenat step 9560.

At step 9568, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to remove parts of a selected recording. If theuser selects to remove parts of a recording, the interactive televisionapplication may display a remove overlay with a time bar indicator overa video at step 9570. Step 9570 may include steps 9572, 9574 and 9576.At step 9572, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to place a marker in the time bar indicator. Ifthe user selects to place one or more markers, the first marker mayfunction as a beginning marker and the second marker may function as anend marker. At step 9574, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to remove a part of the recording thatmay be between a beginning marker and an end marker or before or after asingle marker. At step 9576, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to clear any markers that may appearon a time bar indicator.

At step 9578, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to add a selected recording to a playlist. If theuser selects to add a selected recording to a playlist, the interactivetelevision application may display a playlist display screen at step9580. Step 9580 may include steps 9582, 9584, 9586, 9588, and 9590. Atstep 9582, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to mark and unmark a recording that may be added to aplaylist. At step 9584, the interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to add more recordings to a playlist.At step 9586, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to create a new playlist. If the user selects tocreate a new playlist, the interactive television application maydisplay a create new playlist overlay in step 9588. At step 9590, theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto order a playlist and remove a recording from a playlist.

At step 9592, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to mark locations for reference and to also recallreferences that may have been previously marked for a selectedrecording. If the user selects to mark locations for reference or torecall references that may have been previously marked, the interactivetelevision application may display a location overlay with a time barindicator at step 9594, which may include steps 9596, 9598, and 9600. Atstep 9596, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to place a marker in the time bar indicator. At step9598 the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to skip to the next marker or skip to the previous marker.At step 9600, the interactive television application may provide theuser with the ability to clear all markers in the time bar indicator.

FIG. 59 shows illustrative edit saved recordings display screen 9602that may be provided by the interactive television application. Displayscreen 9602 may be displayed in response to a selection of a remotecontrol edit button when a recording (referred to herein in this contextas “selected recording”) in a recordings display screen or some othersuitable display screen or overlay is selected. Alternatively, displayscreen 9602 may be displayed in response to a selection of an editoption that may have been shown, for example, on a recorded programinformation screen. Display screen 9602 may include remove commercialsfrom recording option 9604, combine with other recordings option 9606,remove parts of a recording option 9608, add to playlist option 9610,and mark and recall location option 9612, which may be provided based onillustrative steps 9556, 9558, 9568, 9578, and 9592 shown in FIG. 58.

With reference now to FIG. 59, the interactive television applicationmay provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 9614 overremove commercials from recording option 9604 and to select that optionto remove the commercials from the selected recording. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 9614 over combine with other recordings option 9606 toselect that option (e.g., by pressing a remote control “OK” button). Theinteractive television application may display a combine with otherrecordings display screen in response to a selection of combine withother recordings option 9606. The interactive television application mayprovide the user with the ability to move highlight window 9614 overremove parts of a recording option 9608 to select that option (e.g., bypressing a remote control “OK” button). The interactive televisionapplication may display a remove parts of a recording overlay inresponse to a selection of remove parts of a recording option 9608. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move highlight window 9614 over add to playlist option 9610 to selectthat option (e.g., by pressing a remote control “OK” button). Theinteractive television application may display an add to playlistdisplay screen in response to a selection of add to playlist option9610. The interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to move highlight window 9614 over mark and recall locationoption 9612 to select that option (e.g., by pressing a remote control“OK” button). The interactive television application may display a markand recall location overlay in response to a selection of mark andrecall location option 9612. Display screen 9602 may also includeinformation about the selected program, such as its title and length. Asthe recording is edited, the displayed length may change accordingly.

FIG. 60 shows illustrative combine with other recordings display screen9616 that may be provided by the interactive television application.Display screen 9616 may be displayed in response to a selection ofcombine with other recordings option 9606 of FIG. 59. With reference nowto FIG. 60, display screen 9616 may provide the user with the ability tocombine a selected recording with other recordings. Display screen 9616may also provide the user with the ability to determine in what orderrecordings may be combined (e.g., whether program A may be positionedbefore or after program B).

Display screen 9616 may include recording listings 9618 which maycontain a list of PVR recordings. Display screen 9616 may includecombine after option 9620 and combine before option 9622. Display screen9616 may provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 9632over a listing bar in recording listings 9618 and to select combineafter option 9620 or combine before option 9622 for the recordingidentified in that listing bar. A user may be permitted to move ahighlight window between listings 9618 and options 9620 and 9622 usingright and left remote control navigation keys. A user may be permittedto move highlight window 9632 over a particular listing (e.g., SportsCenter) and to combine a recording of that particular listing with acurrently selected recording by adding the recording of that particularlisting before or after the currently selected recording. By usingremote control right and left navigation keys, a user may access combineafter option 9620 or combine before option 9622 for that particularlisting. Pressing a remote control “OK” key will then cause therecording for that particular listing to be combined with currentlyselected recording. Display screen 9616 may also include the title,length, and other information related to the currently selectedrecording. The combined recording may have the name of the originallyselected program, the name of the program selected to be combined withit, the user may be able to choose which name to use, or the user may beallowed to enter a new name for the combination. If desired, neither,either or both of the original recordings may be deleted when thecombination is created.

FIG. 61 shows illustrative remove parts of a recording overlay 9636displayed over video 9634 that is playing from a PVR. Overlay 9636 maybe displayed in response to a selection of remove parts of a recordingoption 9608 of FIG. 59 for a selected recording. With reference now toFIG. 61, overlay 9636 may provide the user with the ability to removeportions of a recording. Overlay 9636 may include program counter 9638and time bar indicator 9640 which may provide a numerical and visualdisplay of the playback position of the selected recording. Theinteractive television application may provide the user with the abilityto move through a recording by using a remote control fast-forwardbutton, a remote control rewind button, a remote control play button, aremote control pause button, a remote control stop button, a remotecontrol skip forward or back button, an on-screen option to perform anyof the above by selecting a marker, such as marker 9646 or 9648, or anyother suitable remote control button or action. Program counter 9638 andtime bar indicator 9640 may reflect a user's movements in the selectedrecording.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to navigate to a location within a recording that the user maywant to mark as a beginning point of a section of a recording to beremoved. When the user reaches a desired location, the interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to selectplace marker option 9650. In response to a selection of place markeroption 9650, the interactive television application may place beginningmarker 9646 at the selected location with a time stamp indicating theexact time location of beginning marker 9646.

The interactive television application may fill time bar indicator 9640with a criss-crossed fill pattern in playback section 9642 beforebeginning marker 9646. Playback section 9642 may be filled with apattern to show the elapsed playback time. Once beginning marker 9646 isplaced at a desired location, the interactive television application maymodify time bar indicator 9640 to include a slashed fill pattern to showhow much of the program may be removed by the user. The user may thenuse a remote control fast-forward button, a remote control play button,a remote control pause button, on-screen options, arrow keys, and anyother suitable remote control buttons to navigate to another location inthe recording where the user may place an end marker. In response to aselection of place marker option 9650, the interactive televisionapplication may place end marker 9648 at the selected location with atime stamp indicating the exact location of end marker 9648.

The placement of end marker 9648 would thus define section 9644 that auser may select to remove from the recording. In order to remove section9644, the interactive television application may provide the user withthe ability to select remove option 9652. If the user does not want toremove section 9644 or if the user wants to edit a section to beremoved, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select clear markers option 9654. The selection ofclear markers option 9654 may cause beginning marker 9646 and end marker9648 to be removed from overlay 9636.

If desired, a user may enter only a beginning marker, in which case allcontent after the marker may be removed. Similarly, a user may enteronly an end marker, in which case all content prior to the marker may beremoved.

A user may be provided with the ability to create a list of recordingsin a desired order, such as a playlist. FIG. 62 shows illustrativeplaylist display screen 9656 that may be provided by the interactivetelevision application.

Display screen 9656 may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 9658 over playlist listing bar 9660 to select aplaylist to which a recording may be added. Display screen 9656 mayinclude recording listings 9662. A user may add a particular recordingto a current playlist identified in playlist bar 9660 by movinghighlight window 9658 over one of add to playlist options 9670 that ispositioned adjacent to a listing of a recording that is desired to beadded to the current playlist and by pressing a remote control “OK”button.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to select edit playlist option 9672 to change the order ofrecordings within a playlist and remove recordings from a playlist. Inresponse to a selection of edit playlist option 9672, the interactivetelevision application may display an edit playlist display screen (seeFIG. 63). The interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select create new playlist option 9674 to create anew playlist. In response to a selection of create new playlist option9674, the interactive television application may display a create newplaylist overlay (see FIG. 64).

FIG. 63 shows illustrative edit playlist display screen 9676 that may beprovided by the interactive television application. Display screen 9676may provide the user with the ability to change the order of recordingswithin a playlist and remove recordings from a playlist. Display screen9676 may include playlist recording listings 9678, move up option 9680,move down option 9682, remove option 9684, and cancel option 9688. Auser may access options 9680, 9682, and 9684 for a particular listing inlistings 9678 by pressing a right or left remote control navigationbuttons when highlight window 9690 is positioned over that particularlisting. The right or left navigation buttons may move highlight window9690 from that particular listing to options 9680, 9682, and 9684 toallow the user to select one of these options for the listing. Theselection of move up option 9680 or move down option 9682 may move arecording up or down within a playlist. The selection of remove option9684 for a particular listing may cause that recording to be removedfrom a playlist, although the recording itself may not be deleted. Inresponse to a selection of cancel option 9688, the interactivetelevision application may cancel changes made to a playlist and exitdisplay screen 9676.

FIG. 64 shows illustrative create new playlist overlay 9702 displayedover playlist display screen 9700 that may be provided by theinteractive television application. Overlay 9702 may provide the userwith the ability to create a new playlist and to provide the user withthe ability to edit the name of the playlist. Overlay 9702 may includeplaylist name 9704, edit name option 9706, and “OK” option 9708. Overlay9702 may provide the user with the ability to select edit name option9706 to edit the name of a new playlist. A user may use remote controlalpha-numeric keys to edit the name of the playlist. Once the user issatisfied with playlist name 9704, the interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select “OK” option9708.

FIG. 65 shows illustrative mark and recall overlay 9804 displayed overvideo 9802 of a selected recording that the interactive televisionapplication may be playing from a PVR. Overlay 9804 may be displayed inresponse to a selection of mark location option 9612 of FIG. 59 for aselected recording. The functions of this overlay may also be availablefrom a control overlay such as overlay 2404 of FIG. 39. With referencenow to FIG. 65, overlay 9804 may provide the user with the ability tomark and recall locations within a recording. Overlay 9804 may includeprogram counter 9806 and time bar indicator 9808.

The interactive television application may provide the user with theability to navigate to a location within a recording that the user wouldlike to mark to be a reference point. When the user reaches a desiredlocation, the interactive television application may provide the userwith the ability to select place marker option 9812. In response to aselection of place marker option 9812, the interactive televisionapplication may place marker 9810 at that particular location with atime stamp indicating the exact location of place marker 9810.

Overlay 9804 may include skip to previous marker option 9814, skip tonext marker option 9816, and clear markers option 9818. The interactivetelevision application may provide the user with the ability to movehighlight window 9820 over skip to previous marker option 9814 and skipto next marker option 9816. In response to a selection of skip toprevious marker option 9814, the current playback location in indicator9808 may be moved to a previous marker (if one exists) and theapplication may play the corresponding video at that location in video9802. In response to a selection of skip to next marker option 9816, thecurrent playback location in indicator 9808 may be moved to a nextmarker (if one exists) and the application may play the correspondingvideo at that location in video 9802. The interactive televisionapplication may provide the user with the ability to select clearmarkers option 9818. In response to a selection of clear markers option9818, the interactive television application may remove all markersassociated with a selected recording. The interactive televisionapplication may save all existing markers when a user exits overlay 9804and may recall the markers the next time a user accesses this option forthe selected recording. If desired, the user may be given theopportunity to name or number the individual markers within a program,and to jump to a marker by name or number. If desired, keys on theremote control (such as page up and page down) may be used to quicklynavigate to markers while watching a recording without having to displayan overlay. Markers may be maintained when recordings are combined, whenparts of a recording are removed, and when a playlist is created.

An interactive television application may be implemented to provide aPVR with multiple user accounts. FIG. 66 shows illustrative stepsinvolved in providing multiple program guides for PVR users in ahousehold. With reference now to FIG. 66, at step 3902, user equipmentthat includes a PVR may be provided in a household. If desired, some ofthe functionality may be provided using equipment that is not in theuser's home. For example, programs may be recorded to a server in adistribution facility. At step 3904, an interactive televisionapplication may be implemented on the user equipment to provide multipleprogram guides. Each program guide may correspond to one of thehousehold members.

At step 3906, an interactive television application may associatedifferent household member specific PVR information with differenthousehold members. The member specific PVR information of each householdmember may be associated with that user's program guide. PVR informationmay include configuration settings for recordings, user preferenceinformation, scheduled recordings information, recording information orother PVR related information. If desired, steps 3904 and 3906 may becombined. If desired, the size of the storage space to be used forconfiguration settings, user preferences, program information, buffers,stored programs, and other user-specific data may be specified for themultiple program guides. Alternatively, storage space may not bepre-allocated, and memory may be allocated from available memory as eachuser needs it. At step 3908, an interactive television application mayallow household members to interact with respect to the PVR and/or withrespect to their PVR information using their corresponding programguides. For example, a household member may use his or her program guideto record a program on a PVR, to schedule a PVR to perform a recording,or to view or manipulate his or her list of PVR recordings.

Step 3908 may include step 3910. At step 3910, the interactivetelevision application may display PVR information that is associatedwith a particular household member when that household member uses theircorresponding program guide. At step 3912, the interactive televisionapplication may cause the PVR to record or delete programs based on thePVR information that is associated with the household members. The PVRinformation may be updated when a program is recorded or deleted. Thus,the interactive television application may provide a unique programguide for each member of a household.

A household member may begin to use his or her program guide by logginginto his or her program guide. For example, with reference now to FIG.67, the interactive television application may display user-logindisplay screen 4002. User-login display screen 4002 may include options4004 for allowing users to select their login identification. User-logindisplay screen 4002 may also include data entry area 4006. Area 4006 maybe used to enter a personal identification code that is associated witha login identification. Once a user has logged in to access one feature,the user may not be required to login to access additional features. Forexample, there may be a “change user” or “login” button on the main menuscreen or a key on the remote control. If desired, a user may beautomatically logged out after a period of inactivity, or when thesystem is turned off.

Personalized main menu display screen 4008 may be displayed when a userselects a particular login identification using options 4004 and entersa valid personal identification code. Main menu display screen 4008 mayinclude text 4014 identifying the current user and may include optionsfor providing interactive services. For example, main menu displayscreen 4008 may include recordings option 4010 and scheduled recordingsoption 4012 that the user may select to access PVR related informationand features. User preferences and PVR setup options accessed from thismain menu screen may be specific to the logged in user.

A user may access his or her list of scheduled recordings when that userlogs into their program guide. For example, with reference now to FIG.68, user-login display screen 4102 may be displayed to provide userswith an opportunity to login. In this instance, display screen 4102identifies the users to be Tom and Jerry.

Scheduled recordings display screen 4104 may be displayed after a userlogs into their program guide and selects to access his or her list ofscheduled recordings. As mentioned above, a user may log in by selectinga user login and entering a personal identification code. Scheduledrecordings display screen 4104 may include list 4106 containing listingsfor programs that Jerry selected to be recorded. Tom's list of scheduledrecordings may be displayed in scheduled recordings display screen 4108upon user request after Tom logs in to his program guide. Scheduledrecordings display screen 4108 may include list 4110 containing listingsfor programs that Tom selected to be recorded. An interactive televisionapplication may associate different programs to be recorded withdifferent users. For example, as shown, list 4110 that is displayed forTom is different from list 4106 that is displayed for Jerry.

If desired, a user may be required to login when the user selects toaccess PVR related information and/or features. For example, withreference now to FIG. 69, main menu display screen 4202 may be displayedfor example when a user presses a main menu remote control button.Access to main menu display screen 4202 may be provided withoutrequiring user login. From main menu display screen 4202, a user may bepermitted to access general program guide features such as programlistings, weather information, etc.

Main menu display screen 4202 may contain recordings option 4204 andscheduled recordings option 4206. User-login display screen 4208 may bedisplayed when a user selects scheduled recordings option 4206 in mainmenu display screen 4202. If desired, user-login display screen 4208 maybe presented as an overlay. User-login display screen 4208 may containlogin identification options 4210 and data entry area 4212.

Personalized scheduled recordings display screen 4214 may be displayedwhen a particular user, in this case, Jerry logs into his program guide.Scheduled recordings display screen 4214 may contain list 4216 forJerry's scheduled recordings list for Jan. 18, 2002, and list 4218 forJerry's scheduled recordings for Jan. 20, 2002. Scheduled recordingsdisplay screen 4212 may contain interactive advertisement 4220. Examplesof interactive television program guide systems with interactiveadvertisements are illustratively shown in Knudson, et al, which ismentioned below.

Features for managing recordings may be implemented in a similar way.For example, with reference now to FIG. 70, main menu display screen4302 may be displayed for example when a user presses a remote controlmenu button. Main menu display screen 4302 may contain recordings option4304. User-login display screen 4307 may be displayed when a userselects recordings option 4304. At user-login display screen 4306, auser may use options 4308 to select their login identification and mayenter their personal identification code using data entry area 4310.Personalized recorded programs display screen 4312 may be displayed whena user, in this case Calvin, logs into the system using display screen4307. Recorded programs display screen 4312 may contain list 4314 thatlists programs that have been recorded for Calvin.

Illustrative steps involved in recording programs in a multiple programguide environment are shown in FIG. 71. With reference now to FIG. 71,at step 4402, a user may be provided with an opportunity to log intohis/her program guide. Multiple program guides may be provided that eachcorrespond to a different user. The multiple program guides may beimplemented to be available through local user equipment (e.g., userequipment used by members in a household) and may also be implementedusing remote equipment, such as a remote server. The user equipment orserver may include a storage device such as a PVR. A user may bepermitted to log into their program guide to interact with respect tothe storage device. At step 4404, a user who is currently logged intotheir program guide may be permitted to select programs to be recordedon the storage device (e.g., on a local recording device or on theserver). At step 4406, the user equipment may record programs based onwhich programs were selected to be recorded by the users while they werein their program guides. The interactive television application thatprovides the multiple program guides may record programs based on theuser-selections irrespective of which user is currently logged intotheir program. Therefore, a program may be recorded for one user when aprogram guide for another is in use. Step 4406 may include updatinguser-specific information regarding recordings so that the newinformation may be reflected when a user logs into the system. Ifmultiple users select to record the same program, the system may onlyrecord one copy.

Different techniques may be implemented to allow users in a multipleprogram guide environment to select programs to be recorded. Forexample, with reference now to FIG. 72, program listings display screen4502 may be displayed when a particular user logs into their programguide and selects to access program listings. If desired, programlistings display screen 4502 may contain text identifying the currentuser, which in this case is Jerry. Display screen 4502 may containprogram listings 4510. The current user may be permitted to select aprogram to be recorded by moving highlight window 4504 over a programlisting such as the listing for program A and pressing a remote controlrecord key. Icon 4506 may be displayed in association with program Awhen the user has selected to record program A. Thus, icon 4506indicates that Jerry has selected to record program A, and program A ispart of his list of scheduled recordings.

Another technique for selecting a program to be recorded may involverequesting user identification when a recording related action is soughtto be taken by a current user. For example, with reference now to FIG.73, program information display screen 4602 may be displayed when a userselects to obtain information on a particular program. A user may bepermitted to access information display screen 4602 without having tolog into their program guide. Information display screen 4602 maycontain record option 4604 that a user may select to have the currentprogram recorded (e.g., recorded using a PVR). Overlay 4606 may bedisplayed when the current user selects record option 4604. Overlay 4606may include identification option 4608 that the user may scroll toselect their login identification, may include data entry area 4610 thatmay be used to enter a personal identification number (“PIN”), OK option4618 that may be used to log in, and cancel option 4616 that may beselected to cancel overlay 4606. Icon 4612 may be displayed ininformation display screen 4602 when the current user enters theappropriate information in overlay 4606. Icon 4612 may indicate that theprogram is now selected to be recorded. Information display screen 4602may now contain cancel recording option 4614 that the user may select tocancel the scheduled recording. The cancellation of the recording mayrequire that the user select a login identification and enter a PINagain.

In a multiple program guide environment, recordings may be manuallydeleted by individual users. Illustrative steps involved in deletingrecordings are shown in FIG. 74. With reference now to FIG. 74, at step4702, an interactive television application may associate a recordingwith one or more users. More than one user may be associated with aparticular recording when more than one user selects the same program tobe recorded from within their guides. At step 4704, users who areassociated with the recording may be provided with an opportunity todelete the recording when they are in their program guide. At step 4706,the recording may be deleted when all of the users that are associatedwith that recording have selected to delete the recording. Step 4706 mayinclude step 4708. At step 4708, information that associates a recordingwith a user may be deleted when the user selects to delete therecording. Step 4708 may be used to remove the association of that userwith the program that the user selected to delete (e.g., removes theprogram name for the recording from the user's list of recordings).Information on the program may be deleted without actually deleting therecording itself, e.g., if other users have selected the program forrecording.

FIGS. 75 and 76 show an illustrative sequence of display screens thatmay be provided based on the illustrative steps shown in FIG. 74. Withreference now to FIG. 75, login display screen 4802 may be displayedwhen a user seeks to login to their program guide. If desired, logindisplay screen 4802 may be an overlay. In this example, there are twousers that are identified in display screen 4802 as Tom and Jerry.Recordings display screen 4804 for Jerry's recordings may be displayedwhen Jerry logs into his program guide using login display screen 4802and selects to access his list of recordings. Recordings display screen4810 for Tom's recordings may be displayed when Tom logs into hisprogram guide using login display screen 4802 and selects to access hislist of recordings. As shown, the recordings contained in list 4806 indisplay screen 4804 for Jerry and in list 4812 in display screen 4810for Tom are different except for one program. The program Living inPeace is listed in both lists 4806 and 4812.

Information display screen 4814 that contains information and optionsfor the program Living in Peace may be displayed when Jerry moveshighlight window 4808 in recordings display screen 4804 over the listingfor the program Living in Peace and presses a remote control “OK” key.Information display screen 4814 may include delete option 4816. Theprogram guide may allow Jerry to select delete option 4816 and tosubsequently return to his updated list of programs, which are displayedin recordings display screen 4818. As shown, a listing for the programLiving in Peace is no longer included in list 4806 of Jerry'srecordings. Recordings display screen 4820 for Tom's recordings may bedisplayed after the program Living in Peace is selected to be deleted byJerry. Recordings display screen 4820 may include list 4812 of Tom'srecordings, which still contains listing 4822 for the program Living inPeace. Thus, one user may delete a recording of a program from his orher guide without changing the program guides of the other users.

FIG. 76 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that continuesthe sequence shown in FIG. 75. With reference now to FIG. 76, recordingsdisplay screens 4918 and 4920 repeat recordings display screens 4818 and4820 of FIG. 75. Recording display screen 4920 for Tom's recordings mayinclude listing 4926 for the program Living in Peace. Informationdisplay screen 4928 containing information and options for the programLiving in Peace may be displayed when the current user (Tom) selectslisting 4926. Information display screen 4928 may include delete option4930. A recording of the program Living in Peace and/or informationrelated to that program may be deleted when delete option 4930 isselected. After delete option 4930 is selected for the program Living inPeace, the interactive television application may display recordingsdisplay screen 4932 that shows that the deleted program is no longer onTom's list of recordings.

The interactive television application may include features for handlingdifferences between recording settings that two different users haveselected for recording the same program. The interactive televisionapplication may record the program to based on both settings (e.g.,using the highest setting that is set by each user). For example, if thetwo users select different before/after buffer times, the applicationmay use the longer of the two. If the two users select different recordqualities, the application may select the highest quality. If two usersselect different record priorities, the application may use the highestspecified priority.

Accordingly, multiple program guides may be provided that correspond todifferent users that share the same user equipment.

A notification feature may be another feature that may be provided withrespect to recording activity. Illustrative steps involved in providingnotifications for upcoming changes in recording content are shown inFIG. 77. At step 5002, an interactive television application may providea user with an opportunity to select a program to be recorded. At step5004, a user may be provided with an opportunity to select deletepriority settings for a particular recording.

At step 5006, an interactive television application may automaticallyselect a program to be recorded or deleted. A particular program may beautomatically selected to be recorded based on stored user preferencesor other suitable criteria. A recording may be deleted automatically forexample when the recording is one that was created over a certain numberof days ago or when the recording has not been viewed in a given period.

At step 5008, a notification may be sent that describes a change that isto be made to the recorded content. For example, the notification maystate that a particular program is about to be recorded or deleted. Thechange that is to be made may be determined based on steps 5002, 5004,and 5006. Step 5008 may include step 5010. At step 5010, in a multipleprogram guide environment, a notification may be sent to specific usersto which the content of the notification is related. For example, thenotification may be sent only to users who used their program guides toselect a particular program to be recorded. This may be achieved bysending one notification using an e-mail and sending anothernotification via a program guide overlay. Other techniques may involvewaiting to send a notification to a particular user until that user logsinto his or her program guide. At step 5014, an opportunity to cancel orconfirm the change identified in the notification may be provided to therecipient of the notification.

In a multiple program guide environment, each user that is notified ofthe change in the recorded content may be provided with an opportunityto confirm or cancel the change at step 5012. Information associatedwith each user's program guide will reflect whether that user selectedto confirm or cancel the change. Step 5012 may be a substep of step5014.

FIG. 78 shows an illustrative display sequence that may be providedbased on the illustrative steps shown in FIG. 77. With reference now toFIG. 78, information display screen 5102 may contain information 5104,which describes an upcoming program, and may contain related programguide options such as record option 5106. An upcoming future program maybe a program that will air in about a week. That program may be set tobe recorded when record option 5106 is selected. If that program is setto be recorded, notification overlay 5108 may be displayed over video5110 or other content shortly before that program is about to air.Notification overlay 5108 may contain text notifying the user that theselected program is about to be recorded. Notification 5108 may includeconfirm option 5112 and cancel option 5114 to allow the user to selectto confirm or cancel the recording of the program. Video 5110 may bevideo of a program that is airing shortly before the airing time of theprogram that was selected to be recorded.

Notifications may be sent using a number of different communicationstechniques such as using a program guide overlay, an e-mail message, orother communications technique. A notification may specify informationabout a particular change that is to be made. FIGS. 79-86 areillustrative of different notification techniques. FIG. 79 showsnotification overlay 5202 that is displayed over video or graphic 5404that is generated by an interactive television application. Notificationoverlay 5202 includes text 5206 that informs a viewer that program XYZis about to be recorded and also informs the viewer that program XYZ isa program that was manually selected to be recorded (i.e., the programwas specifically selected to be recorded by a user).

FIG. 80 shows notification overlay 5302 that is displayed over video orgraphic 5304. Overlay 5302 includes text 5306 that informs a viewer thatprogram XYZ is about to be deleted and also informs the viewer thatprogram XYZ is being deleted based on delete priority settings. Overlay5302 may include confirm deletion option 5308 that may be selected toconfirm the deletion of program XYZ and may include cancel deletionoption 5310 that may be selected to cancel the deletion of program XYZ.

FIG. 81 shows notification overlay 5402 that is the same as notificationoverlay 5202 of FIG. 79 except that the text information contained inoverlay 5402 is different. Text 5406 in overlay 5406 of FIG. 81 informsthat program XYZ is about to be recorded and informs that program XYZwas automatically selected to be recorded. The program may have beenautomatically selected based on user preferences. Examples ofinteractive television program guide systems with user preferencefeatures are illustratively shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/034,934, filed Mar. 4, 1998, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The program may havealso been automatically selected for recording based on user viewing orrecording activity that has been monitored, or based on other criteria.

FIG. 82 shows notification overlay 5502 that is the same as notificationoverlay 5302 of FIG. 80 except that the text information contained inoverlay 5502 is different. Text 5506 in overlay 5502 of FIG. 82 informsthat program XYZ is about to be deleted and informs that program XYZ wasautomatically selected to be deleted based on the automatic deletesettings of the system. Automatic delete settings may be settings thatare not under user control. Automatic delete setting may be configuredto delete a program based on the date on which the program was recorded.Other techniques may also be used. A notification such as thoseillustratively shown in FIGS. 78-82 may be displayed for a particularuser in a multiple program guide environment when that user is currentlylogged into his or her guide. If that user is not currently logged intohis or her guide, the interactive television application may delaysending the notification until that user logs into his or her guide. Ifdesired, the interactive television application may avoid such delays bysending an e-mail notification to that user.

FIGS. 83-86 illustratively demonstrate e-mail versions of thenotifications shown in FIGS. 79-82. FIG. 83 shows e-mail 5602 thatincludes addressee information 5604, addressor information 5606, subjectinformation field 5610, message region 5608, and reply region 5612.Addressee information 5604 may identify an e-mail address for therecipient of e-mail 5602. The e-mail address may be a general e-mailaddress used by one particular household to receive e-mail notificationsregarding program guide activity or may be an e-mail address for aspecific user in a household that was provided by that user to receivee-mails regarding his or her program guide. Addressor information 5606may identify the address of a facility that sent e-mail 5602. Subjectinformation field 5610 may inform the user of the general nature ofe-mail 5602 or may provide specific information describing activity thatis about to occur. Message region 5608 may include text that informs therecipient that a particular program is to be recorded and informs therecipient that the program was manually selected to be recorded. Ifdesired, message region 5608 may include reply region 5612. Reply region5612 may include interactive e-mail content that the recipient mayselect to confirm or cancel the recording of the program (e.g., a linkto a particular Internet Web page may be displayed). If desired, replyregion 5612 may contain instructions on how the recipient can confirm orcancel the described activity (e.g., informs the recipient to send ane-mail to a particular address to cancel a recording).

FIG. 84 shows an illustrative e-mail embodiment in which e-mail 5702 issent to inform an e-mail recipient that a particular program is to bedeleted based on delete priority settings. The content of e-mail 5702may include reply region 5704 that may include interactive content thatthe recipient may use to confirm or cancel the deletion. FIG. 85 showsan illustrative e-mail embodiment in which e-mail 5802 is sent to informan e-mail recipient that a particular program is to be recorded at aparticular time and that the program was automatically selected to berecorded. E-mail 5802 may include reply region 5804 that may be used toreply to e-mail 5802. Reply region 5804 may be used to confirm or cancelthe recording of the program. FIG. 86 shows an illustrative e-mailembodiment in which e-mail 5902 is sent to inform an e-mail recipientthat a particular program is to be deleted based on automatic deletesettings. An interactive reply region may be included in e-mail 5902 toallow a user to confirm or cancel the deletion of the program.

In a single or multiple program guide environment, an interactivetelevision application may maintain a global list of programs that areavailable from a PVR. For example, with reference now to FIG. 87, atstep 6002, a global list of programs that may currently be stored on aPVR may be generated and stored on user equipment or on a remote server.The global list may include programs that are in the recordings list(s)of the current users. Recordings may be included in the global listirrespective of whether they were recorded manually and automatically.At step 6004, programs that users deleted, but that are still availablefrom the PVR may be kept on the global list. Step 6004 may be a substepof step 6002. If desired, programs that have been deleted and are nolonger available may be included on the list.

At step 6006, an interactive television application will not record aprogram that is selected to be recorded (either automatically ormanually) when that program is already on the global list. If desired,at step 6008, users may be permitted to edit the list. For example, auser may be provided with an opportunity to permanently delete a programthat contains offensive materials. As another example, a user may removea program from the list that was recorded, viewed, and deleted in thepast, so that another copy of the program may be recorded and viewed.

A PVR or an integrated PVR-IPG may integrate content from a variety ofplatforms. For example, a PVR may store content from broadcasttelevision, from pay-per-view, from video-on-demand, from the Internet,from radio, from multimedia devices (e.g., video and still cameras),from personal computers, etc. This content may be gathered based uponthe same criterion or criteria. The content may be made available to theviewer through any suitable interactive television application such as aprogram guide. Examples of interactive television program guides thathave integrated content are illustratively shown in Walker et al., U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/829,856, filed Apr. 10, 2001, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

A PVR may be accessed and/or controlled remotely. PVRs or integratedPVR-IPGs may be connected to other equipment, including other PVRs (orintegrated PVR-IPGs), via any suitable connection, such as a wired orwireless network to enable control of the PVRs and/or to enable contentfrom PVRs to be accessed at other equipment. Examples of other equipmentmay include web phones, personal digital assistants, two-way pagers,ebooks, etc. Examples of interactive television program guides thatprovide remote access are illustratively shown in Ellis et al., U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/354,344, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Promotions such as advertisements may be stored on a PVR forpresentation to users. Such stored advertisements may be related toadvertisements that are airing to be viewed by television viewers. Forexample, with reference now to FIG. 88, at step 6102, a live videoadvertisement (e.g., an advertisement airing during a local stationbreak) may be received for presentation and/or may be presented to auser. At step 6104, a locally stored advertisement that is related tothe live advertisement may be presented to the user. The storedadvertisement may be automatically selected for display based on userpreferences or may be selected for display based on user selections. At6106, a live video advertisement that is about to be presented to a usermay be replaced with a particular recorded video advertisement. Therecorded video advertisement may be automatically selected for displaybased on user information.

For example, with reference now to FIG. 89, video 6204 may be used toextend or replace live video 6202 for an automobile advertisement. Livevideo 6202 containing an advertisement for an automobile manufacturermay be displayed during a station break. Video 6204 presenting anadvertisement for a particular automobile model manufactured by thatmanufacturer may be displayed to a user from a local PVR following thepresentation of video 6202. The stored advertisement may be selected forpresentation based on user preferences. The stored advertisement mayhave been selected from among a number of different advertisements.

If desired, a user may be allowed to view an extension of live video6202 for a current advertisement. The interactive television applicationmay display overlay 6206 over live video 6202 that provides the userwith an opportunity to view an extension of the current advertisement.Video 6204 of a related advertisement that is an extension of thecurrent advertisement may be displayed when a user selects to view anextension of the current advertisement from overlay 6206. In anothertechnique, an interactive television application may replace a currentlive advertisement with video 6204 of a recorded advertisement from aPVR. The recorded advertisement may be related to the current liveadvertisement and may be selected for display based on user information.If desired, the PVR may pause live television content when video 6204 isbeing displayed to a user.

A video advertisement that is stored on a PVR may be presented to a userwhen the user enters a program guide. FIG. 90 shows illustrative stepsthat may be involved in displaying video advertisements in a programguide. With reference now to FIG. 90, at step 6302, video advertisementsmay be stored on a recording device such as PVR for later presentationin an interactive television application. The video advertisements maybe loaded during off-hours when user equipment is not likely to be usedor loaded using any other suitable technique. At step 6304, anadvertisement that was stored at step 6302 may be displayed when a useris using a program guide.

FIG. 91 illustratively shows two different sequences for thepresentation of video advertisements. With reference now to FIG. 91, aninteractive television application may display program listings displayscreen 6402 that contains video advertisement 6404 and interactivegraphic advertisement 6406. Video advertisement 6404 may contain scaledvideo of an advertisement that is being presented using a PVR. Videoadvertisement 6404 may be selectable. Video 6412 may be displayed when auser selects video advertisement 6404. Video 6412 may present videoadvertisement 6404 in full screen.

Interactive graphic advertisement 6406 may be a graphic that isgenerated by the interactive television application to present aparticular advertisement. Examples of interactive television programguides that include interactive graphic advertisements areillustratively described in Knudson et al., U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/034,939, filed Mar. 4, 1998, which is hereby incorporated hereinin its entirety. Video 6408, which presents a video advertisement thatis related to graphic advertisement 6406, may be displayed when a userselects graphic advertisement 6406. If desired, related options overlay6410 may be displayed over video 6408 to allow the user to furtherinteract with respect to the advertisement.

A stored advertisement may be displayed when a user enters a programguide. For example, with reference now to FIG. 92, video 6504, whichpresents an advertisement that is stored on a PVR, may be displayed whena user who is watching video 6502 presses a remote control guide button.Main menu display screen 6506 may be displayed when video 6504 for theadvertisement ends. If desired, video 6504 may be supplemented withtext, graphics, interactive options, or other video.

Such video advertisements may be available not only from a local PVR,but also from remote storage devices, such as a remote storage devicethat is available in a client-server based program guide system.Examples of client-server based program guide systems are illustrativelyshown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/332,244,which is mentioned above. Remotely stored advertisements may betransmitted on demand, as part of a carousel, continuously, or usingcombinations thereof.

Buffer management techniques may be implemented with respect totelevision programming to enhance interactive services that areavailable to users. Buffer management techniques may be implemented tocreate new buffers based on current user activity. For example, withreference now to FIG. 93, at step 6602, user equipment that includes aPVR may be provided. The PVR may also be based on a remote server. Atstep 6604, a new straight buffer may be created on the PVR when a newchannel or a new program is viewed by a current user.

An interactive television application may allocate a portion of thestorage space on the PVR to a new buffer when that buffer is created. Ifdesired, at step 6606, the interactive television application mayallocate the size of the buffer to be a size that is suitable to holdthe size of the program. If desired, buffer size may be increasedincrementally to fit a program that is being buffered. At step 6608,video and/or audio from a program or channel currently tuned to may bestored to the buffer that is created when that channel or program isfirst tuned. For clarity and brevity, television content that isbuffered is primarily referred to herein as video. The televisioncontent that is buffered may not only contain video, but also containaudio, graphics, data, or other material.

With reference now to FIG. 94, first buffer 6702 may be created when auser first tunes to a first channel to view video 6704 of a firstprogram. First buffer 6702 may have been allocated a size that issuitable to hold the remainder of the first program, which may, forexample, be fifty minutes. Second buffer 6706 may be created when theuser tunes to a second channel to watch video 6708 of a second program.The second channel may have been tuned to after the user watched thefirst program for ten minutes. Dashed region 6710 shown in first buffer6702 represents what was buffered for the ten minutes that the firstprogram was watched. The second program may have been watched to itscompletion, and the user may have stayed on the same the channel towatch the following program. Dashed lines 6716 are shown in secondbuffer 6706 to represent that second buffer 6706 holds the portion ofsecond program that was watched by the user. Third buffer 6712 may becreated when video 6714 of a third program commences following the endof the second program. Third buffer 6712 may have been allocated a sizethat is suitable to hold the length of the third program.

Storage space on a PVR may be selected to be allocated to a buffer in anumber of different ways. For example, with reference now to FIG. 95, aninteractive television application may be prompted to create a newbuffer (e.g., a straight buffer) in step 6802. At step 6804, storagespace that is not allocated to an existing buffer or is not allocated toa recording may be allocated to create the new buffer. If desired, atstep 6806, one or more existing buffers (e.g., the oldest existingbuffer) may be deleted to make room for the new buffer. At step 6808,space from the deleted buffer(s) may be allocated to create the newbuffer. Steps 6806 and 6808 may be performed simultaneously sinceallocating space to a new buffer may cause the deletion of the existingbuffer. If desired, at step 6810, a portion of an existing buffer (e.g.,the oldest portion of the oldest buffer) may be deleted to make room forthe new buffer. At step 6812, space from the deleted portion may beallocated to the new buffer. Steps 6810 and 6812 may be repeated toincrease the size of the newly created buffer. For example, in someinstances, new buffers may initially be assigned to have a fixed lengththat may be incremented thereafter.

If desired, separate buffers that are for the same program may becombined into a single buffer. Illustrative steps involved in combiningsuch buffers are illustratively shown in FIG. 96. With reference now toFIG. 96, at step 6902, a new buffer may be created when a user changesthe current channel. At step 6904, separate buffers may be combined whenthe separate buffers contain video from the same program. In anotherimplementation, an interactive television application may not create anew buffer when a user returns to viewing a program for which a bufferalready exists. The interactive television application may simply storethe program to the existing buffer.

FIG. 97 shows an illustrative buffering sequence that may be providedbased on the steps shown in FIG. 96. With reference now to FIG. 97,first buffer 7002 may be created when a user changes the current channelto view video 7004 of a first program on a first channel. Second buffer7006 may be created when the user changes the channel to watch video7008 on a second channel. The user may have changed the channel afterwatching the first program for ten minutes. The ten minutes of video7004 that was buffered by first buffer 7002 is represented by dashedregion 7010. After viewing video 7008 for the second program to itscompletion, the user may switch back to the first channel to watch video7002 of the first program. Dashed region 7012 in first buffer 7002represents video 7004 of the first program that has been buffered sincethe user returned to watching the first program. Thus, video that isbuffered when a user returns to viewing a recent program is combinedwith what was buffered when the user first watched that program. Line7014 in first buffer 7002 may mark the point at which the buffered videoin dashed region 7012 was added to first buffer 7002. If desired, firstbuffer 7002 may include a gap at line 7014 that corresponds to thelength of time that the user switched away from the current program.

Buffers that are for the same program may be combined in a number ofdifferent ways. For example, with reference now to FIG. 98, at step7102, an interactive television application may buffer separatelywatched or tuned portions of the same program. For example, two separateportions of a program may be buffered when a user switches away andswitches back to watching a particular program. At step 7104, thebuffered portions of the program may be concatenated. The concatenatedbuffer may not include any indicators to show that there is a break inbuffered video. If desired, at step 7106, the buffered portions may becombined by inserting blank video or other content in between thebuffered portions. Step 7106 may include step 7108. At step 7108, theinteractive television application may insert blank video, a storedadvertisement, or other content that corresponds to the length of thegap in the video for a program between separately buffered portions. Ifdesired, short content (such as blank video, text, or a graphic) may beinserted between the gaps, along with an indication of the length oftime to display the content, so that buffer storage is not required forthe entire missed timed period.

FIG. 99 shows three illustrative video presentation sequences that maybe performed based on the steps shown in FIG. 98. Each sequenceaddresses how buffered video for nonadjacent portions of a program maybe presented to a user. A user may be provided with an opportunity torewind a program from a buffer. Video 7202 may be presented to a userwhen a user selects to play the program after rewinding the program to afirst buffered portion of a particular program. Blank video 7204 may bedisplayed when the first buffered portion ends. Other content such as anadvertisement stored on a PVR may also be used. Blank video 7204 mayhave been inserted to fill a break in the buffer. Video 7206 containinga second buffered portion of the program may be displayed when blankvideo 7204 has been displayed for a certain period of time (e.g., a timeequal to the length of the gap in the program between the two portions).

In the next sequence shown in FIG. 99, the interactive televisionapplication displays text 7208 to inform the user of the existence ofthe break in the buffered video portions when video 7202 for the firstbuffered portions ends. Text 7208 may be presented over blank video ormay be presented as part of a graphic. Text 7208 may be displayedbriefly, or it may be displayed for a period of time corresponding tothe gap in the programming. In the final sequence that is shown in FIG.99, video 7210 for a second buffered portion of a program is displayedimmediately following video 7212 for the first buffered portion (e.g.,the portions are concatenated). In this case, both video 7210 and 7212may be displayed without displaying blank video or text to inform theuser of a break in the buffer.

Gaps in buffers of program may be avoided by buffering programs inparallel. With reference now to FIG. 100, at step 7302, a user may beprovided with an opportunity to change channels to watch differentprograms. At step 7304, programs may be buffered in parallel byimplementing multiple tuners to buffer two programs at the same time.Multiple tuners may be implemented as part of a user's local userequipment. If desired, one or more of the multiple tuners may beimplemented remotely. At step 7306, an interactive televisionapplication may record one program on a storage device (e.g., PVR) whilea current user is watching a different program on a different channel.This simultaneous watch/record feature may be provided when multipletuners have been implemented. The multiple tuners may also allow theinteractive television application to record two programs at the sametime. Additionally, this implementation may allow the user to watch twoor more programs at the same time, for example, by switching channelsbetween the two programs and rewinding on each channel change to see theprogramming that was missed.

FIG. 101 shows an illustrative sequence of video and buffered managementevents that may be provided based on the steps shown in FIG. 100. Firstbuffer 7402 may be created for a first program when a user changes thechannel to watch video 7404 of the first program airing on a firstchannel. Second buffer 7406 may be created for a second program when theuser changes the channel to watch video 7408 of the second program.Dashed region 7410 in first buffer 7402 represents video 7404 that wasbuffered before the user changed the channel. After watching the secondprogram for ten minutes, the user may change the channel back to thefirst channel to return to the first program and may press a rewind keyto rewind buffered video of the first program. The portion of the firstprogram that was missed by the user may have been buffered while theuser was watching the second channel. Dual tuners may be used to bufferboth programs. Dashed region 7412 in first buffer 7402 shows that theinteractive television application continues to buffer the first programafter the user changes the channel. Thus, when the user returns to thefirst program and rewinds the first program, video 7410 containing themissed portions of the first program may be presented to the user.

A user may be permitted to access additional buffer content when theuser rewinds a current buffer to the top of the buffer. The top of thebuffer may refer to the earliest recorded content for the program. Forexample, with reference now to FIG. 102, at step 7502, a user may beallowed to rewind a video for a program using a buffer that was createdfor that program. At step 7504, the rewinding may be stopped and theprogram may be automatically played when the user rewinds to the top ofthe buffer. At this point, a user may select to rewind again from thetop of the current buffer. In response, the interactive televisionapplication may skip to the end of the previous program and rewind theprevious program from the end of that program. A previous program may bea program that was previously watched by the user. In another example, aprevious program may be a program that was previously recorded by thesystem but that may not have been watched by the user. Alternatively, atstep 7508, the interactive television application may skip to thebeginning of a previous program and may start to play that program whenthe user selects to rewind again after rewinding a current program tothe top of the buffer for that program.

In the context of moving between programs that are available fromprogram buffers, the movement may be based on the chronological order inwhich the buffers for the program were created.

FIG. 103 shows illustrative video presentation sequences that may beprovided based on the steps shown in FIG. 102. With reference now toFIG. 103, video 7602 of a program rewinding may be displayed when a userselects to rewind a current program. When the user rewinds the currentprogram to the top of the buffer for the current program, theinteractive television application may stop the rewinding and may playvideo 7604 of the current program. If the user selects to rewind againfrom the top of the current program or buffer, the interactivetelevision application may display video 7606 that shows video of aprevious program rewinding. Alternatively, the interactive televisionapplication may play video 7608 for the previous program starting fromthe top of the buffer for the previous program.

A user may be permitted to fast-forward a program that is buffered. Withreference now to FIG. 104, at step 7702, a user may be allowed tofast-forward video for a program that is buffered. At step 7704, thevideo for the program that the user has selected to fast-forward may beautomatically stopped when the end of that program or the end of thebuffer for that program is reached. Alternatively, at step 7706, whenthe end of a program or the end of a buffer for a program is reached byfast-forwarding the program, the interactive television application maybegin playing a following program using a buffer for the followingprogram. In another alternative, the video for the following program maybe fast-forwarded when the end of the first program is reached. Thefast-forward and rewind techniques discussed herein may also apply tosituations where buffers for a previous, current, or following programdo not contain an entire program, but contain a portion of a program.

FIG. 105 shows an illustrative interactive sequence for presenting videothat may be provided based on the steps of FIG. 104. As shown, video7802 may contain video for a current program that is playing infast-forward based on a user selection. A program buffer for the currentprogram may be used to present video 7802. When the end of the currentprogram is reached, the interactive television application may stopplaying video 7802. Video 7804 from a currently tuned channel or a stillframe from the stopped program may be displayed when the video 7802 isstopped. Alternatively, when the end of the current program is reached,video 7806 containing video for a following program may displayed. Video7806 may be video that is presented from a buffer. Video 7806 may playin fast-forward.

A user may be allowed to skip-forward when viewing buffered video for aprogram. For example, with reference now to FIG. 106, at step 7902, auser who is watching a program that is playing from a program buffer maybe allowed to skip-forward to a next program. At step 7904, theinteractive television application may skip to the top of the nextprogram when the user selects to skip-forward. Similarly, a user may beallowed to skip backward between program buffers. With reference now toFIG. 107, video 8002 may contain video for a current program that isbeing presented from a program buffer for that program. Video 8004 for anext program in the buffer space may be displayed when the user selectsto skip-forward past video 8002 of the current program.

Buffered programming may be saved as part of recording. FIG. 108 showsillustrative steps involved in recording a current program. For example,with reference now to FIG. 108, at step 8102, a current program that auser is watching may be buffered. At step 8104, the user may be providedwith an opportunity to select to record the current program. At step8106, the current program may be recorded by recording video that iscurrently airing and that is to air for that program and by saving videofor that program that was recorded and is available from the buffer aspart of the recording.

FIG. 109 shows an illustrative sequence of events for recording acurrent program that is provided based on the steps of FIG. 108. Withreference now to FIG. 109, video 8202 containing video for a currentprogram on channel 2 may be displayed when the user selects to switchaway from a program that the user was watching on channel 5. A bufferfor the program on channel 5 may have existed when the user changed thechannel to channel 2. After watching video 8202 for a period of time,the user may decide to switch back to channel 5. Video 8204 containingcurrent video of the program on channel 5 may be displayed when the userselects to change the channel back to channel 5.

Overlay 8206 may be displayed when the user selects to record thecurrent program on channel 5. The user may select to record the programon channel 5 by pressing a remote control record key when the user iswatching video 8204 of that program. Overlay 8206 may inform the userthat the current program on channel 5 is being recorded and that therecording for the program will contain portions of that program thatwere previously tuned. In a multi-tuner environment, the recording mayinclude both previously tuned portions and portions that were missed bythe user (e.g., missed because the user changed the channel to viewanother program). If desired, information in overlay 8206 may reflectthe additional content that will be recorded in a multi-tunerenvironment.

A buffered program may be saved as a recording even after the completionof that program. FIG. 110 shows illustrative steps that may be involvedin saving a buffered program as a recording. With reference now to FIG.110, an interactive television application may keep a buffer for aprogram after the program ends. At step 8304, a user may be providedwith an opportunity to have the program saved as a recording. At step8306, the program may be saved as a recording from the buffer.

FIG. 111 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens that may bepresented based on the steps shown in FIG. 110. Program buffer displayscreen 8402 may be displayed when a user selects a buffer listing optionfrom an appropriate display screen (e.g., a main menu display screen) ina program guide. Program buffer display screen 8402 may include list8404 identifying programs that are presently available from a buffer.

Information display screen 8408 may be displayed when a user selectslisting 8406 for a documentary from list 8404. Information displayscreen 8408 may include information about the documentary and mayinclude program-related options such as record option 8410. Recordoption 8410 may be selected to have the program buffer for thedocumentary saved as a recording. Recordings display screen 8416 may bedisplayed when the user later accesses the list of recordings that arecurrently available. List 8412 in recordings display screen 8416 maycontain listing 8414 for the buffered program (the documentary) that theuser selected to save as a recording. If desired, list 8404 in programbuffer display screen 8402 may identify how much of a particular programwas buffered. If desired, list 8404 in program buffer display screen8402 may be modified to remove listing 8406 when a user selects thatprogram to be recorded from the buffer. The buffer memory may beconverted to program recording memory, or the program may be copied intoprogram recording memory.

In another example of recording a program that has ended, the guide mayallow a user to rewind or skip back to a previous program, as describedpreviously. While watching a previous program, the user may be allowedto press a remote control info key to display program information screen8408, or to press a remote control record key to record the program fromthe buffer.

The size of the storage space that is used to buffer programs may be setmanually or automatically. For example, with reference now to FIG. 112,at step 8502, a storage device such as a PVR may be provided as part ofa user's local equipment. At step 8504, a portion (or all) of thestorage space on the storage device may be assigned to bufferingtelevision content. Step 8504 may apply to single or multiple tunerenvironments. At step 8504, the size of the buffer space may be setautomatically when the system is configured by a system operator or beset manually by the user. An example of setting the size of the bufferspace automatically is automatically using all free storage space forprogram buffers. If desired, a minimum size of buffer space may beallocated automatically, even if that reduces the amount of programmingthat can be recorded.

With reference now to FIG. 113, buffer configuration display screen 8602may be displayed when a user selects a buffer setup option from anappropriate display screen such as a main menu display screen or a PVRsetup display screen. Buffer configuration display screen 8602 mayinclude buffer space option 8604 that the user may use to select thetotal storage space that will be allocated to creating buffers, mayinclude number of buffers option 8606 that may be used to select themaximum number of buffers that will be active at the same time, mayinclude buffer size option 8608 that may be used to specify a fixed ormaximum buffer size, and may include option 8610 for selecting whenbuffers will be deleted (e.g., deleted every day, every week, everymonth, etc.). If desired, there may not be an option to select whenbuffers are deleted, as older buffers may be deleted when space isneeded for newer buffers. Buffer size for each buffer may be set to afixed size, may be set automatically based on program size, or may beset using other suitable techniques.

A recording device such as a PVR may be used to automatically pausetelevision content when a user interacts with an interactive televisionapplication. Illustrative steps involved in pausing television contentare shown in FIG. 114. With reference now to FIG. 114, at step 8702,television content such as video for a program or commercial may bepresented to a user. The television content may be content that iscurrently airing, may be content that was previously recorded, or may becontent that is playing from a buffer. At step 8704, the user may beprovided with an opportunity to interact with an interactive televisionapplication. The interactive television application may for example bean interactive television application that has been implemented on atelevision system to provide interactive services to the user. At step8706, the current television content that the user is watching may beautomatically paused when the user starts to interact with theinteractive television application. The current television content maybe live television content or may be other television content such as arecorded program that a user is watching, a VOD program that a user iswatching, etc. The user may start to interact with the interactivetelevision application by for example pressing a remote control button.At step 8708, the display of the television content may resume when theuser exits the interactive television application. The televisioncontent may be resumed from the point at which was automatically paused.

FIGS. 115-120 show illustrative video and display screen sequences thatmay be provided based on the steps shown in FIG. 114. With reference nowto FIG. 115, video 8802 of a television program that a user is currentlywatching may be automatically paused when the user enters a programguide by selecting a remote control guide button to display programlistings display screen 8804. Program listings display screen 8804 mayinclude listings 8806, which may be scrolled to find listings. Ifdesired, the user may take further actions to display other displayscreens after program listings display screen 8804 is displayed. Video8808 of the television program, which the user was watching beforeentering the program guide, may be resumed from the point at which itwas paused. The television program may be resumed when the user exitsthe program guide. Thus, a recording device such a PVR may be used toautomatically pause content when a user interacts with an interactivetelevision application.

With reference now to FIG. 116, video 8902 of a television commercialthat a user is currently watching may be paused automatically when auser selects a remote control button such as an info button to displayadvertisement information display screen 8904. Advertisement informationdisplay screen 8904 may contain information about the commercial thatthe user was watching. The user may interact with display screen 8904and may further use other features in the interactive televisionapplication before exiting to video 8906. Video 8906 may contain videoof the commercial that the user was watching when advertisementinformation display screen 8904 was displayed. Video 8906 may resumeplaying the commercial from the point at which the interactivetelevision application was used to display information display screen8904.

With reference now to FIG. 117, interactive advertisement display screen9004 may be displayed for example when a user presses a remote controlinfo key while watching video 9002 of a television commercial.Interactive advertisement display screen 9004 may contain information9008 that is related to the television commercial that the user waswatching, along with selectable options related to the advertisement.Interactive advertisement display screen 9004 may continue playing thetelevision commercial that the user was watching using scaled video 9006of the commercial. When the user exists interactive advertisementdisplay screen 9004, video 9010 may be displayed that resumes thecommercial in full screen from the point at which interactiveadvertisement display screen 9004 was displayed. The video may beresumed from that earlier point because the user may have not devotedhis/her full attention to the video when the user was interacting withinteractive advertisement display screen 9004.

With reference now to FIG. 118, recordings display screen 9104 may bedisplayed when a user presses a particular remote control button to viewwhich recordings are currently available to that user. The user may haveselected to view recordings display screen 9104 while watching video9102 of a current television program. Recordings display screen 9104 mayinclude scaled video 9106 of the program that the user was watching whenthe user selected to view display screen 9104. Recordings display screen9104 may include listings 9108 that identify the recordings that arecurrently available to the user for playback. Video 9110 may bedisplayed when the user exits recordings display screen 9108. Video 9110may be video of the television program that the user was watching pausedat the point where display screen 9104 was displayed. The user may pressa remote control key to play the television program.

With reference now to FIG. 119, video 9204 of a locally stored videocommercial may be displayed when a user selects to enter a program guidewhile watching video 9202 of a particular television program. When theuser exits the program guide, video 9206 of that particular televisionprogram may resume automatically from the point at which thepresentation of video 9202 was halted by the display of video 9204. FIG.120 shows an illustrative sequence that is the same the sequence shownin FIG. 119 except that video 9302 is for a television commercial thatis automatically paused and later resumed by displaying video 9306 whenthe user exits the program guide.

A user may be given the option to resume the television content from thepoint at which it was automatically paused or from its current point.For example, with reference now to FIG. 121, overlay or display screen9402 may be displayed to request whether the television content shouldbe resumed from the point at which the user entered the program guide.Overlay or display screen 9402 may include confirm option 9404 andcancel option 9406. Video 9408 of the television content at its currentpoint (e.g., live television) may be displayed when the user selectscancel option 9406. If confirm option 9404 is selected, the televisioncontent may be resumed from the point at which the user entered theprogram guide.

Video or other stored content may be displayed when a program is paused.For example, with reference now to FIG. 122, a user may select to pausevideo 9420 for a program that is being presented to a user. Recordedvideo or other content 9422 (e.g., from a PVR) may be displayed when theprogram is paused. Recorded video or other content 9422 may be displayedas a full-screen type display. If desired, recorded content or othercontent 9426 may be displayed over paused video 9424 when a user selectsto pause a current program. Recorded content or other content 9426 mayfor example be displayed as an overlay. The recorded video may be avideo advertisement or other video content. Other content that may bedisplayed may be still content, animation, a still image, etc.

A user may be allowed to send a recording, a reminder, or a recordingrequest to another user (e.g., another user in the same household or toother users in other households). For example with reference now to FIG.123, information display screen 9440 may be displayed when a userselects to receive information on a particular program. Informationdisplay screen may be for an upcoming program or for a program that hasalready aired and been recorded (e.g., recorded at least in part).Information display screen 9440 may include send option 9442. Senddisplay screen 9446 may be displayed when send option 9442 is selected.Send display screen 9446 may provide a user with an opportunity to senda recording, send a reminder, or send a recording request for a programto another user. Send display screen 9446 may allow a user to send arecording when information display screen 9440 is displayed for aprogram that has an associated recording. Send display screen 9446 mayallow a user to send a reminder or send a recording request wheninformation display screen 9446 is displayed for an upcoming program.Send display screen 9446 may be displayed specifically for theparticular program for which information display screen 9440 isdisplayed. Send display screen 9446 may include data entry area 9448 toallow a user to enter the name or address of an intended recipient of arecording, reminder, or recording request. Send option 9450 may beincluded in send display screen 9446 that a user may select to send arecording, reminder, or recording request to a particular user. Ifdesired, send display screen 9446 may include an option to allow theuser to select the messaging technique (e.g., e-mail messaging) thatwill be used.

FIG. 124 shows e-mail 9460 to a particular user that provides the userwith an attached recording, a reminder for an upcoming program, or arecording request for an upcoming program depending on whether theparticular program that is the subject of e-mail 9460 is a recording oran upcoming program. E-mail 9460 may be sent using a wide area networksuch as the Internet. FIG. 125 shows message listings display screen9462 that a user may access from within a guide. Message listingsdisplay screen 9462 may provide a list of messages that have beenreceived for the current user. Listing 9462 shows that a recording fromsender XYZ has been received for the current user. Listing 9466 showsthat a current user has received a reminder for a particular programfrom sender XYZ. Listing 9468 shows that a current user has received arecording request for a particular program from sender XYZ. The currentuser may select each listing to view additional information related tothat message. FIG. 126 shows overlay 9470 that may be displayed toinform a current user of a reminder or recording request that has beensent to the current user. Overlay 9470 may include related options 9472that may allow a user to take particular actions in connection with thereminder or recording request. Related options 9472 may allow a user toselect to record or tune a program that is the subject of overlay 9470.If desired, the interactive television application may automaticallyprocess the content of the message. For example, on receiving arecording, the recording may be added to the list of recordingsavailable to the receiving user. On receiving a reminder, theinteractive television application may set a reminder locally. Onreceiving a record request, the interactive television application mayautomatically schedule a local recording for the program. Examples oftelevision messaging systems are illustratively shown in McKissick etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,245 filed Jul. 16, 1999,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Ifdesired and as mentioned above, copy protection schemes may be providedfor users with PVRs. Programming or other content that can be displayedon user equipment may be copy protected. Copy protection informationthat is associated with programming or other content may be provided touser equipment to support copy protection schemes. Copy protectionschemes may be implemented that use the copy protection information toprevent users from copying programming or other content withoutauthorization. For example, an interactive television application mayblock a program from being recorded to a PVR when that program iscopy-protected. The recording of the program may be blocked bypreventing the recording from being scheduled. A graphic (e.g., anoverlay or display screen) may be displayed that informs a viewer that aparticular program or other content that was selected to be recordedcannot be recorded due to copyright protections. The MPEG-4 standard maybe used to transmit programs with information on copyright protections.Other standards that support such activity may also be used.

As mentioned above, a PVR may automatically record programs based onuser preferences. Other inference engines may use information such asuser demographics or keyword searches (mentioned above) to selectprograms to automatically record. Examples of interactive televisionprogram guides that use demographics are illustratively shown in Knee etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/139,777, filed Aug. 25, 1998,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.Programs may be recorded automatically based on keywords that a user hasentered into the system.

If desired and as mentioned above, conflict resolution schemes may beprovided to support mechanisms for the viewer to resolve schedulingconflicts. An interactive television application may present options,configuration settings, or prompts that may be used by a user to resolvescheduling conflicts. Conflicts may be resolved by allowing a user tointeract with the interactive television application to resolve eachconflict as it arises. The interactive television application may alsoallow the user to set a conflict resolution scheme (e.g., set theinteractive television application to resolve scheduling conflicts infavor of one type of recording such as a series recording).

As mentioned above, personal video recorders and other digital recordingdevices record television programs onto a digital medium, such as a harddisk. The amount of programming that can be stored by such a device islimited by the capacity of the storage medium. A typical unit mightstore 30 hours of video programming, compressed at the maximum level.

Systems today use digital video compression methods such as MPEG-2,which are practical in real-time. An incoming audio/video program can bedigitized, compressed, and stored as the signal is received. Moreefficient compression methods are available, such as MPEG-4. However,these methods are much more computationally intensive. Hardware that isinexpensive enough to be widely deployed may not be capable ofcompressing video using more efficient compression methods (e.g., usingthe MPEG-4 standard) in real-time.

The computational tasks associated with a digital video recorder are notin general excessive. A processor in such a device typically has spareprocessor cycles available. These spare cycles may be used to compressstored audio/video programs more efficiently.

For example, the system may record programs using the MPEG-2 standard,the same as other existing systems. However, in the background, usingprocessor cycles that are not needed for storing, managing, andretrieving programs, the processor may scan through previously storedprograms and compresses them in a more efficient format. Aftercompressing a program in a more efficient format, such as MPEG-4, theless efficient version can be deleted, freeing up storage space foradditional programs.

Programs may also be compressed in multiple passes. For example, it maymake one pass through an audio/video file to reduce it in one way, andanother pass to reduce it further. Each pass may eliminate a specifictype of redundancy, for example. As each compression pass is completed,the previous version may be deleted.

The user, network operator, or programmer may be allowed to setparameters as to what types of compression are allowed, either ingeneral or for a specific program. For example, a specific “lossy” typeof compression may be optional. The more lossy types of compression mayalso be reserved for programs that are archived for a longer period oftime, or which have already been viewed.

An advantage of this technique is that it allows many more hours ofprogramming to be stored in the same amount of storage. For example,most or all of the program currently in progress may be stored in theleast efficient format. Programs recorded recently may be stored in amore efficient format. And programs that have been stored for a longerperiod of time may be stored in the most efficient format.

A more advanced compression standard such as MPEG-4 may also allow fornew features. For example, MPEG-4 allows objects in the video to beexplicitly defined. A web address or commerce application could belinked to one of these objects. MPEG-4 supports management ofintellectual property. These new features may be limited to programsthat were originally broadcast in the MPEG-4 standard, or may beprovided with other formats by translating the information received intoMPEG-4.

If desired, a computer readable medium such as a floppy disk, opticaldisk, etc. may be used to store machine executable code for implementingan interactive television application for providing PVR and/or IPGfeatures. If desired, equipment such the equipment discussed in FIGS.1-2C may be configured to provide features, options, or techniques thatare illustratively described herein.

Thus, interactive television systems and methods that provide enhancedPVR and interactive television application features are provided. Oneskilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can bepracticed by other than the described embodiments, which are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and that the presentinvention is limited only by the claims which follow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: storing firstinformation identifying media assets that have been stored;automatically storing second information identifying at least one mediaasset that has been viewed by a user; receiving, with control circuitry,a first user selection to cause a media asset series to be stored;receiving a second user selection not to store media assets in theseries that the user has viewed; determining which media assets in theseries have been viewed by the user based on the second information;automatically selecting for storage only unviewed media assets of theseries based on the determining and the second user selection; andstoring the automatically selected unviewed media assets of the series.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling to record theunviewed media assets of the series.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising retrieving from a database the unviewed media assets of theseries.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising preventing thestoring of one of the unviewed media assets if the one of the unviewedmedia assets is already stored.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising generating for display a listing of at least one stored mediaasset of the unviewed media assets.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a third user selection of a stored media asset;and playing back the selected stored media asset.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the storing comprises storing the unviewed media assets ofthe series on a storage device.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser is a first user and the second information includes a first log,the method further comprising: maintaining a second log of media assetsthat have been viewed by a second user; receiving from the second user aselection to schedule at least one series for storage; identifying whichmedia assets in the at least one series have been viewed by the seconduser based on the second log; and in response to the identifying,storing only those media assets of the at least one selected series thathave not been viewed by the second user.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the first information is a list of recorded programs.
 10. Asystem comprising: a storage device; and control circuitry configuredto: store first information identifying media assets that have beenstored; automatically store second information identifying at least onemedia asset that has been viewed by a user; receive a first userselection to cause a media asset series to be stored; receive a seconduser selection not to store media assets in the series that the user hasviewed; determine which media assets in the series have been viewed bythe user based on the second information; automatically select forstorage only unviewed media assets of the series based on thedetermining and the second user selection; and store the automaticallyselected unviewed media assets of the series.
 11. The system of claim10, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to schedule torecord the unviewed media assets of the series.
 12. The system of claim10, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to retrieve froma database the unviewed media assets of the series.
 13. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to preventthe storing of one of the unviewed media assets if the one of theunviewed media assets is already stored.
 14. The system of claim 10,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate fordisplay a listing of at least one stored media asset of the unviewedmedia assets.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the control circuitryis further configured to: receive a third user selection of a storedmedia asset; and play back the selected stored media asset.
 16. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the storing comprises storing the unviewedmedia assets of the series on a storage device.
 17. The system of claim10, wherein the user is a first user and the second information includesa first log, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:maintain a second log of media assets that have been viewed by a seconduser; receive from the second user a selection to schedule at least oneseries for storage; identify which media assets in the at least oneseries have been viewed by the second user based on the second log; andin response to the identify, store only those media assets of the atleast one selected series that have not been viewed by the second user.18. The system of claim 10, wherein the first information is a list ofrecorded programs.